Bill Buckaloo #

Introduction #

Bill Buckaloo is a longtime member of the Lewes Fire Department in Lewes, Delaware, who resigned as fire chief in July 2025 and had his department membership suspended pending an investigation into what officials described only as a “derogatory comment” made in a public setting. The announcement, reported July 21, 2025, came with a department statement that it “does not condone Buckaloo’s language” and that his comments “run counter to the department’s belief and values of serving our entire community.” The content of the comment itself was never made public; news coverage identifies it only by the department’s label. The suspension ran 60 days, and by October 2025 Buckaloo was eligible to return to the department if he chose to.

Background Information #

Buckaloo had risen through the volunteer department to serve as assistant chief before his first removal from leadership. In 2020, the Lewes Fire Department suspended him for allegedly using a homophobic slur online; the Cape Gazette reported the post followed a drag show in Rehoboth Beach, and that Buckaloo later resigned and was relieved as assistant chief. Despite that history, the membership voted in 2024 to bring him back as fire chief. The department had also faced separate scrutiny in 2024 for a different member’s use of a racial slur. The 2020 episode is public through press coverage and is offered here as reported context, not as proof of what motivated the 2025 incident.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Described, not detailed. The comment itself was never published or paraphrased in any of the reporting. What is established is procedural: the department called it a “derogatory comment” made in a public setting, opened an investigation, accepted Buckaloo’s resignation as chief, and suspended his membership. His prior 2020 discipline is a matter of press coverage and is noted as context only.

On July 21, 2025, WBOC and WDEL reported that Lewes Fire Chief Bill Buckaloo had resigned and had his Lewes Fire Department membership suspended amid allegations of making what the department called a “derogatory comment.” A department spokesman said the comment was made in public and that the department “does not condone Buckaloo’s language,” and an investigation was underway. The department’s press release stated, “The department recognizes that Mr. Buckaloo’s behavior is disconcerting and respect all points of view,” adding, “His comments run counter to the department’s belief and values of serving our entire community.” Per the Cape Gazette, the discipline took the form of a 60-day suspension, handed down after officials said he made a derogatory comment in a public setting; department President Wally Evans said at the time that Buckaloo could come back once the punishment was complete, if he chose to.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Reaction in the community focused on a pattern rather than a single comment. Speak Out Against Hate (SOAH), a Delmarva advocacy group, said the episode was part of a concerning trend; its president and chair, Patty Maloney, said, “First responders are supposed to be able to respond to everyone, for everyone, no matter who they are in our community. So to have this continue to happen shows a very deep lack of the kind of work that needs to be done to eradicate it,” and called Buckaloo’s resignation a good first step while urging “real, and strong, measures” so that such incidents stop occurring. In September, Evans and newly elected Fire Chief Robbie Stephens publicly called for Buckaloo to resign his membership in the department and not return. The Delaware NAACP requested a meeting with the city and the fire department; on September 18, Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco convened it with Evans, department spokesman Glenn Marshall, city managers, and three NAACP representatives including state conference President Fleur McKendell. Marasco described the meeting as positive and cooperative but said attendees left knowing more work remained: “The NAACP offered to help the fire department with any kind of training facilitation. But they made it clear that the issue was very upsetting and they were worried that, is it one person or is there a cultural issue here?” The department said it would double down on training and education. Marasco said she did not expect the controversy to affect the city council’s typical $75,000 annual donation to the department.

Current Status #

By October 10, 2025, Buckaloo had completed the 60-day suspension, making him eligible to return to the Lewes Fire Department if he chooses — and, because nothing in the bylaws prevents it, to run again for chief or another leadership position. The department held a membership meeting on October 7 where the Buckaloo situation was apparently discussed; Stephens said there was no vote, and Marshall declined to describe the outcome, saying, “We have bylaws and a constitution, and we would be violating that if we discussed department business.” Stephens told the Cape Gazette, “I think everybody understands we have to follow the constitution and bylaws of the Lewes Fire Department. It’s legally binding.” The department’s website now lists Robert C. Stephens as Fire Chief, the position Buckaloo resigned.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Buckaloo’s arc within one small-city volunteer department has come full circle: assistant chief, suspended and relieved of that role in 2020 after an alleged anti-gay slur, elected chief by the membership in 2024, then resigned and suspended again in 2025. He left the top job not by a membership vote but by resigning under investigation, and completing his suspension did not end the pressure — the department’s own president and his successor as chief had called on him to give up his membership entirely. As of the October 2025 reporting, the choice of whether he returns rests with Buckaloo alone, and the bylaws would even permit another run for chief. Whatever he decides, the department has pledged doubled-down training and education, and community groups have made clear they will be watching whether the problem was one person or, as the NAACP’s question put it, “a cultural issue.”