Close a Volunteer Fire Company? It Would Never Happen in Delaware
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.
CBS3. NBC10.
Thanks. I’m still not used to the switch.
Hahaha, When did that occur, 1995? LOL. I still remember it.
Baltimore’s switch was even more confusing. All three stations switched.
CBS11 became NBC
NBC2 became ABC
ABC13 became CBS
I blame rats.
Most of these volunteer organizations depend on neighborhood fundraisers to survive. Talleyville does several each year. Depending on the location within the state, I suspect such a horrid transgression, coupled with the company doing nothing, would end their funding. If something similar happened at Talleyville, I would never donate to them again, and would lead efforts to boycott them.
I’m not so sure you’d get such a swift and clear-cut reaction in certain sections of the state. And not just in Sussex.
A horrid transgression? Triggered much? Maybe they would boycott fires at your house.
Patrick Miller. Indian River Volunteer Fire Company. Indian River School District. Google. Need I say more?
I always like it when you say more.
I’ve written so much about this guy it isn’t even funny!
https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/?s=patrick+miller&submit=Search
He gets away with whatever he wants…The Delaware Way…
The fire companies of Delaware are 95 percent white male and totally insulated from modern Delaware. They had power back In the 80s. Their influence is waining in Delaware politics. Thank god
It’s good to hear white males like to volunteer for their communities. Never heard of a Fire Dept endorsing a candidate or political party.
Do you belong to one?
No Sir but I do support them.
So do I, make an annual contribution, and county EMTs helped save my wife’s life, so I appreciate the system as much as anybody.
But that doesn’t mean they’re above criticism, as your comments seem to imply.
I agree. Everybody should be held accountable for their actions. The original post was a lot to do about nothing and the comments were trying to paint all Fire Depts as corrupt “2nd tier militias / troops”. That’s why I felt a need to comment.
Protector of valor
How was the original post about nothing? The fire company was closed.
Your comments did nothing to defend fire companies from the charges you cite.
Your opinion is your own, but we don’t need to hear it. If you don’t have anything to add to the actual argument, you’re just crowd noise. I know there are people who are not liberal and don’t agree with liberal views or ideas. There’s really no need for you to remind us of that if you’re not going to add anything useful to the conversation.
If you disagree with that comment, you might, for example, ask the commenter for examples. They might not have any. Maybe they’re just venting. If you’re just venting, go do it at a conservative site. There are plenty of them.
Great story that I never heard before. It is good to show behind the seen power pockets with their inner workings and hidden mmechanisims. Light shines with good reporting.
They’re a branch of government in Sussex County
Volunteer First Responders are like 2nd tier Militia
troops
People who volunteer to put their lives in danger for their community are such assholes.
No, people who give automatic deference to them are assholes. Volunteers are performing a community service, and when one of them does something wrong, those assholes reliably appear to excuse them.
This is similar to how respect for cops gives police brass cover for power grabs. There’s a difference between the rank and file and the head honchos. There always is.
Alby wrote:
And what did the volunteer fireman do wrong? “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.
Nowhere has it been alleged that the fireman in question refused to fight a fire, refused to do his voluntary job.
The township’s press release, in a .pdf document, stated:
“The full benefits of citizenship”? Such as “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” that benefit of citizenship?
So, the fireman exercised his right to assemble with other people, people with whom the Haverford Township Commissioners disagree, and then the Commissioners took action against him. The man in question exercised his First Amendment rights, and the local government took action against him, and against his fellow firemen, who apparently thought enough of him as a fireman to support him as a fireman.
Yet you see no problem with this. I am reminded of another politician who once said, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?”
You have defined ‘doing something wrong,’ in effect, as belonging to, or sympathizing with, a particular political group. Just remember: under that standard, other people can take similar decisions, and they just might find different political groups to be the offensive ones.
He wasn’t talking about this specific case that I could tell, so neither was I. It was a response to a troll. You’re just looking for a fight that I’m not interested in having. I leave all this “but the Constitution” bullshit to your type.
I am not adjudicating the case, but the Proud Boys advocate violence, so there’s that.
The point of the post is that nobody has authority over Delaware’s volunteer fire companies. Try sticking to that.
No, people who violate the trust placed in them as AH. When they are busy embezzling donated and taxpayer dollars, they lose the right to call themselves heroes.
You always grasp the nuance and irony in every topic. You are very intelligent.