(Secaucus, N. J.) Three volunteer firefighters who were accused of homophobia by a gay couple in a multi-million dollar lawsuit  have resigned.

Mayor Dennis Elwell tells the Jersey Journal that he demanded the resignations.

“It’s been a dark day, but it was necessary to show that the governing body and town will not tolerate this or any type of incident similar to this,” Elwell told the paper.

When de Vries and Carter bought their dream house, they knew it was beside a fire station, but figured they’d get used to the occasional noise from the sirens as the volunteer firefighters raced to a blaze.

What they hadn’t counted on was the homophobic attitude at the the North End Firehouse once the crew realized the new neighbors were gay.

In their suit, de Vries and Carter alleged harassment, discrimination, retaliation, negligence and violation of state civil rights laws.

The lawsuit named the fire department, the town, the police department, Fire Chief Frank Walters, Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, Mayor Dennis Elwell and 30 others including the three firefighters who resigned.

In one incident outlined in court documents, firefighters were having a “boisterous” party outside the station.  The couple asked them to quiet down and the firefighters retaliated by throwing rocks at their house and issuing death threats to the men, according to the suit.

Complaints to the town went unanswered the suit said, and the couple eventually sold the house and moved out of town.