Three hours in closed session Wednesday night did not settle a fire board hearing over employee discipline at the Anderson Fire Protection District. Instead, Marsha Kelley, the fire board chairperson, adjourned the meeting to continue on Thursday at 4:45 p.m.

While the board shared no other information about the nature of the meeting, Fire Captain Jason Bellinger joined the closed session meeting about 15 minutes after the 4:30 p.m. meeting began.

Bellinger has been on medical leave since November and faces a preliminary hearing April 8 for charges of felony forgery and misdemeanor embezzlement of funds of the volunteer fire fighter organization. Bellinger has pleaded not guilty.

The closed session topic of employee discipline began on March 9 and was revisited March 17.

Board member Don Matheson was excused from both meetings due to what he termed a conflict of interest.