By Kimberley Vetter
The Advocate
Copyright 2007 Capital City Press
All Rights Reserved
CHANEYVILLE, La. — A criminal investigation into the Chaneyville Fire Protection District has led to a scathing audit that says there are problems with the volunteer fire department’s payroll, expenditures and upkeep of equipment.
The audit comes almost two months after the volunteer fire department’s insurance rating was bumped from a Class 6 to a Class 7, causing the price of homeowner’s insurance to jump for those living within the fire district.
A lack of adequate equipment was one of the reasons the department’s rating went up. Firefighters say they also need training.
“We’ve been begging and begging this chief to get us trained,” Capt. Steve Turner, who has been with the department for the past seven years, said about Fire Chief James Whitley. “I’ve learned a lot but what I’ve learned is hands on, more or less.”
East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Councilman Wayne Carter said he is concerned about the department’s ability to serve its almost 1,000 households and that something needs to change.
Carter’s district encompasses the fire district, which is generally bounded by the East Baton Rouge and East Feliciana parish line to the north, Greenwell Springs-Port Hudson Road to the south, Plank Road to the west and Reames Road to the east.
“It’s a public safety issue,” he said, adding that if the district’s board of directors doesn’t take action, he will.
Whitley said he realizes the department has problems and that he’s doing what he can to solve them.
“Anytime your fire rating goes up you should be concerned,” he said. “We have a problem and we need to work on it.”
Among other things, the audit conducted by the parish’s finance department says:
- Whitley received two pay checks for hours he had not yet worked.
- There were 15 instances when gas was bought within a short time and that emergency call volume did not account for the fuel usage.
- Almost double the amount of cleaning supplies was bought in 2006 compared with Alsen St. Irma Lee Fire Protection District, which is of similar size and, unlike Chaneyville, has two people at the station day and night.
- More than $1,000 was paid in late fees, penalties and interest. In addition, several checks did not clear the bank and are not accounted for.
- Three of seven vehicles at the fire department on Reames Road do not appear to be in good working condition and are not insured. Four of the vehicles’ inspection stickers are expired.
Many of the same issues were brought up in a 2004 audit of the fire district.
That audit says the fire department owed money to the state and federal governments and did not keep proper financial records, such as bank statements, check registers and tax records.
Whitley, who was appointed to his position three years ago, couldn’t say why the issues in the 2004 audit weren’t addressed. But, he said, the issues are being taken care of now.
Meanwhile, Carter said he has reviewed the fire department’s most-recent audit and has given it to Parish Attorney Wade Shows for a legal opinion.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office’s financial crimes division also is looking at the audit, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Keith Bates said.
The Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into the fire department in January after the department’s board of directors complained about expenditures, Bates said.
Turner said he hopes the investigation and the audit will help firefighters get more training and better equipment so they can do their jobs well.
Currently, he said, the station he is in charge of at 23861 Plank Road isn’t really a station.
“There’s no trucks over there,” Turner said. “We have no protection.”
If the fire department gets a call from somewhere near Plank Road, someone from the Reames Road station has to respond. If no one is at the Reames station, Turner said, someone from Plank Road has to drive there, get a truck and then head toward the call.
“That’s not good,” he said, especially when only two trucks are working.
In addition to equipment problems, only one of about 10 firefighters has medical training, Turner said. None of them are certified to be firefighters.
“We haven’t had any problems in the past, but that’s not to say it won’t happen,” he said.
Whitley, who is not a certified firefighter, said he doesn’t understand why Turner and other firefighters say they aren’t trained. He said he provides training every Monday night and that a first-responder class will begin on April 18.
Carter said if firefighters lack training, it’s the fault of the department’s five-member board of directors.
“That’s where the board is failing to do its duty,” he said. “I depend on boards and commissions to do these things for the community.”
Bobby Watts, who was named to the board in December, said he is doing what he can to straighten things up at the department.
But, he said, residents need to demand better service and tell people working for the parish government that the fire department needs either to clean up its act or be shut down.
When he went to look up department records in Baton Rouge, Watts said, several parish officials told him the department was “grossly mismanaged.”
He said Chaneyville residents should come to one of the department’s board meetings to see for themselves.
David Metcalfe did and he said he was shocked.
“It was a joke,” said Metcalfe, who has lived in Chaneyville for the past 11 years and pays about $1,000 more a year for homeowner’s insurance than his neighbors who live in Zachary. “Something needs to be done.”