Howe Springs Fire District Chief Shannon Smith has been placed on administrative leave with pay, while the State Law Enforcement Division investigates an allegation of funds missing from the department.

District board member Earl Liner can't say how much money is missing, but we're told it could be thousands of dollars.

According to the Howe Springs Fire District website it covers approximately 175 square miles in Florence County.

Howe Springs is dispatched to just fewer than 1000 calls a year with more than half being medical related.

We will let you know the outcome of the investigation when we learn it.