By ASJYLYN LODER
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Copyright 2006 Times Publishing Company
HIGH POINT, Fla. — High Point’s volunteer fire department may soon land back before the Hernando County Commission as a fraud investigation raises new questions about the aging force’s ability to meet safety standards.
Since a September fire, the embattled volunteers have been fighting to keep the department in the 55-and-older community. High Point residents rallied behind their volunteers, but questions remain about whether the force has enough trained firefighters.
At stake is whether residents of the 1,600-mobile-home community will be brought under — and pay more for — the protection of Hernando County Fire Rescue.
The department last came before the County Commission in December, when it found the volunteers had too few state-certified firefighters to meet state safety rules. The commission gave the department until March to train and recruit more certified members.
But the board never brought the department back for review.
“And now we’re into June,” said Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden, a vocal critic of the volunteers. She blamed the delay on the time it took to bring the new County Administrator Gary Kuhl up to speed on the issue.
She said she would like to see the department back before the board within the next month.
The latest issue facing High Point is potential fraud by a trainer the department hired.
Wayne E. Walker, a former volunteer firefighter in Pasco County, passed himself off as a certified instructor in emergency vehicle operation, said High Point Assistant Chief Jim Pilipchuck. That turned out not to be the case, he said.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office investigated Walker for charging $25 a head to High Point and Hernando Beach fire volunteers, then issuing fake certificates. That investigation has been handed off to the State Attorney’s Office, said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donna Black.
Pilipchuck said Walker taught emergency vehicle safety, and not the safety course that was the cause of the County Commission’s concern. That course — Firefighter I — is being taught by an accredited instructor, he said.
Safety rules require four Firefighter I level certified firefighters be at the scene of a fire before any firefighter enters a burning building. Records requested by the County Commission in November showed that High Point was unable to meet that “two in, two out” rule in 2005 because not enough of its firefighters had completed the training.
Kuhl and Hernando County Fire Chief Mike Nickerson are now trying to determine if High Point can meet that standard, Kuhl said.
Pilipchuck said that the department recruited several members with Firefighter I certification. Nine more have completed training and will soon take the certification test.
High Point’s run-in with the board stems from harsh criticism of the department’s handling of a Sept. 4 fire. The department failed to ask for help while a house went up in flames, said members of Hernando County Fire Rescue, who said they waited outside High Point’s gates for the volunteers to call for aid.
Hernando County firefighters said High Point volunteers were poorly trained and physically unable to enter the burning home and effectively fight the fire. A woman was found dead in the burned-out house.
It later turned out she had committed suicide after setting her home on fire.
Since the incident, Hernando County has been providing backup for High Point fires. But High Point residents do not pay for Hernando County Fire Rescue. High Point residents pay $45 a year to support their volunteers, while county residents pay $128 for Hernando County Fire Rescue service.
That means High Point got nine months free protection at the expense of other taxpayers, Rowden said.
The volunteers have to be realistic and admit that 60- and 70-year-old untrained firefighters can’t provide as much protection as a younger, professional force, she said.
Pilipchuck said the whole issue is about the money. Hernando County’s cash-strapped department could use another 1,600 taxpayers added to its budget. But High Point is closer, and just as well-qualified, he said.
“I wish I could really say they were concerned about safety,” Pilipchuck said of the commission’s involvement. “When somebody says it’s not the money, it’s the principle — it’s the money.”