Township looks to Pottstown for fire coverage
“We are concerned with being able to provide fire services for the township. We reached out to the borough, just to be safe. We don’t want to put the residents in any kind of unsafe situation.” — Township Manager Scott Hutt
WEST POTTSGROVE » Financial difficulties at the West End Fire Company evidently go beyond its treasurer being put on trial on charges of embezzling funds.
Township Manager Scott Hutt said the fire company also has tax problems with the IRS and is behind on its payments to the township, which purchased new air tanks for the fire company.
At its Dec. 14 meeting, the Pottstown
Borough Council formally authorized Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. to negotiate an agreement with West Pottsgrove Township to provide mutual aid in case of a fire.
Area fire companies routinely provide such aid, but Hutt said the township commissioners decided to formalize the arrangement.
“We wanted to make it official because that’s where we might be headed,” Hutt said.
“We are concerned with being able to provide fire services for the township,” he said. “We reached out to the borough, just to be safe. We don’t want to put the residents in any kind of unsafe situation.”
During the Dec. 21 commissioners meeting, one resident said he had heard the township plans to dissolve the fire company. Hutt replied there had been no such vote.
“We’re still paying liability insurance and we altered the contributions we make to the fire company, which is something they have been told many, many times,” Hutt said.
During that same meeting, Bob Bainbridge, who became chief of the West End Fire Company in November, suggested to the commissioners that a “working group to improve communication” between the township and the fire
company be formed.
Bainbridge suggested the members be himself, fire company president Jamie Sanchez, Hutt and Commissioners Chairman Steve Miller.
“We would like to facilitate communication with both parties, Bainbridge said. “We could meet monthly to update you on the progress being made by the fire company.”
Miller replied that he would take the suggestion “under advisement.”
According to the November fire report offered at the Dec. 21 meeting, the West End Fire Company responded to four fire calls in West Pottsgrove, 10 in Upper Pottsgrove, six in Pottstown, eight in Douglass (Berks), four in Amity, one in Union, one in Birdsboro, three in North Coventry and one in East Pikeland.
Financial troubles
The most public of the fire company’s problems have been the alleged embezzlement of more than $40,000 by the former treasurer.
Kengra S. Taylor, 47, of the Mont Clare section of
Upper Providence, waived her preliminary hearing before District Court Judge Scott T. Palladino earlier this month on felony charges of theft by unlawful taking, access device fraud, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and receiving stolen property in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between April and September 2019.
Authorities alleged Taylor used the West End Fire Company’s funds to pay personal expenses during 87 transactions totaling $43,137. Taylor allegedly spent the stolen funds to pay for vacations, car rentals, auto loans, purchases at retail locations including Wine & Spirit stores, Costco and the U.S. Postal Service, as well as purchases and services at two Harley Davidson dealerships, MediaNews Group Courts Reporter Carl Hessler reported.
The investigation began in September 2019, when the president and the chief of the fire company went to police to report thefts from multiple fire company bank accounts,
according to the criminal complaint filed by West Pottsgrove Detective Timothy Roeder.
Beyond the theft investigation, Hutt said the fire company’s issues with the IRS came to light when officials applied for a grant to help cover the cost of the new portable air tanks the firefighters need to breathe in smoke-filled fire scenes.
The township covered the cost but the fire company still owes about 75 percent of the total cost and has only paid the township about half of this year’s payment, said Hutt.
The township also covers the fire company’s worker’s compensation and liability insurance costs, which added up to about $35,000 last year.
All total, in addition to the air tanks, the township provided between $60,000 to $80,000 to the fire company every year, Hutt said. The township does not have a dedicated fire tax and provides that funding out of its general fund.
“We asked them to start trying to pick up some of
those costs,” said Hutt.
Fire companies are eligible for funding from the state in the form of volunteer firefighter relief grants to pay for goods and equipment, but those with tax or financial problems can become ineligible.
The West End Fire Company was founded in 1910 and Stanley Flagg III was the first president of the company according to the website.
Fewer volunteers everywhere
It is certainly not the first volunteer fire company in Pennsylvania to experience financial problems.
A dwindling number of people willing to volunteer — thanks to longer working hours, longer commutes and more twoincome families — as well as more extensive training and financial requirements have stressed companies across the commonwealth.
In the 1970s, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of America’s volunteer fire companies with the founding
of a Philadelphia company in 1736, had 300,000 volunteer firefighters. Today, it has around 38,000, according to a February report by WHYY.
“Pennsylvania currently has a total of 2,448 fire companies/departments. This includes 2,354 all-volunteer companies, 22 career (paid) departments, and 72 ‘combination’ paid/ volunteer companies,” according to the Berks County website.
In 2016, the Pennsylvania legislature adopted Act 172 which allows municipalities to offer property tax or earned income tax discounts for volunteer firefighters, but the municipalities must choose to enact the discount.
Pottstown attempted to merge is four volunteer fire companies in 2015, but the effort failed after extreme pushback from some of the companies and an impasse at the negotiating table.
Since then, the Empire Fire Company sold its landmark firehouse at the corner of Chestnut and Franklin streets and now shares space with the Goodwill Fire Company on East High Street.