A volunteer fire company in Haverford, Pa., has been shut down by township authorities after failing to take action against a member who tried to join the Proud Boys.
According to CBS-10CBS-3, which broke the story yesterday, officials got an anonymous tip that the Bon Air Fire Company’s vice president had tried to join the Proud Boys.
The volunteer allegedly admitted in an interview with the township that he attended several of the group’s gatherings and passed two of the four steps in the initiation process, including hazing. The volunteer stated he had attempted to distance himself from the group in recent months.
“It was assigned to our deputy chief and did a full background investigation and found there was no criminal activity at all,” Haverford Township Police Chief John Viola said. The matter was then turned over to the Board of Commissioners. The board suggested the firefighter resign.
He tried to, but the Bon Air board refused his resignation. So on Wednesday night, township officials met in executive session. “The township manager’s decision was that we would remove the fire apparatus from the Bon Air Fire company and shut them down temporarily until this can be resolved,” Viola said.
The reason this would never happen in Delaware is that no civil government has such authority over the volunteer fire companies within its borders. Though all operate as part of the Delaware Volunteer Firefigher’s Association, each is run as a separate fiefdom, chartered only as non-profit organizations. They wield considerable political power — check how many downstate elected officials belong to one — and the General Assembly is careful to give every company, no matter its size, the same appropriation in the Grants-in-Aid process each year. They are exempt from FOIA laws.
So this story raises an interesting question: What would happen if a member of a volunteer fire company in Delaware were found to support such groups? Because I’m guessing that more than a few members in various parts of the state would find such organizations attractive, and a perusal of Facebook pages might result in some interesting revelations.