WEST PARIS — Fire Chief Norm St. Pierre said he is confident that fire safety concerns he raised in a resignation letter he sent to selectmen last month will be addressed, and he has no intention to step down from his position.

St. Pierre, in an interview Tuesday, was addressing comments made by two residents during a selectmen’s meeting last Thursday.

At the meeting, resident Natalie Andrews asked why Town Manager John White allowed St. Pierre to rescind his resignation letter, submitted to the town on March 18.

In his letter, St. Pierre raised a number of concerns about the town’s fire safety, including his contention that the town’s fire hydrants have not been maintained properly, there is inadequate house numbering in town and the Fire Department has not received enough support for repairing the fire station and purchasing a replacement firetruck.

Andrews, at the meeting, equated St. Pierre’s letter to “blackmail.”

“It’s an embarrassment,” Andrews told selectmen. “It’s an embarrassment to the town, and I don’t think he should be permitted to stay in his position if this is his behavior; if this is how he represents the town.”

White said he allowed St. Pierre to rescind his resignation because he believed the chief’s decision was “hasty.”

“I haven’t found that his performance merited him leaving if I thought he was hasty,” White told Andrews.

Andrews and resident Dianne Rainey also asked why St. Pierre was reportedly looking at purchasing a used firetruck from Norway, referencing an article about the possible sale that ran in the Advertiser Democrat newspaper last week.

A significant part of St. Pierre’s resignation letter deals with his frustration that an opportunity to buy an inexpensive used fire engine from a New Jersey fire department was lost because selectmen could not meet soon enough to authorize the purchase.

St. Pierre, on Tuesday, said he looked at the Norway engine briefly, but a discussion about purchasing the vehicle never occurred and the vehicle on offer is not even suitable for the department’s needs. He was unclear how his “five-second” visit to Norway came to be reported in a newspaper, he said.

According to White, discussion about purchasing a new firetruck has been postponed until selectmen determine the needs of the department.

Selectmen, St. Pierre and representatives of the West Paris Water District are expected to discuss the condition of the town’s system of 43 fire hydrants at the selectmen meeting scheduled for April 25.