NEW GLOUCESTER — Fire/Rescue Chief Toby Martin resigned last week, effective immediately, Town Manager Brenda Fox-Howard confirmed this week.

No reason for the Dec. 6 resignation has been made public, and Martin’s departure wasn’t publicly addressed until editors of the community blog NGXchange noticed the job posting on the town’s website last week.

Fox-Howard declined to comment on the reason behind Martin’s sudden resignation.

She said she has already gotten a lot of interest in the job.

Deputy Chief Craig Bouchard will serve as the interim chief until Martin’s replacement is hired, which will take about four to six weeks, Fox-Howard said.

Bouchard also declined to comment on Martin’s resignation, but said that the department’s work will not be impacted.

Selectboard members voted Monday night to discuss the job description at a Dec. 22 workshop, which may delay the hiring process slightly.

Martin was hired as chief in February 2019, but had been with the department since 2013. He has also worked for Fire/Rescue departments across Maine.

The New Gloucester department has been a source of tumult for some time now. During Martin’s tenure, the town consolidated the Fire and Rescue Departments into one department and last year, seven members left over the course of a few months.

Martin told the Lakes Region Weekly last December that those individuals’ departure had nothing to do with the department “being torn apart by leadership.”

“Those individuals have left on their own. They have not left on us telling them they’re all done” Martin said at the time.

Martin could not immediately be reached for comment.