By Bob Kalinowski
The Citizens’ Voice
RICE TWP., Pa. — Want to buy a fire truck? You could purchase one for as low as $13,000 today in Rice Township. How about fire helmets or some high-tech tools? They’re available too. You might even be able to get a deal on clothing and a television left behind in a building that once served the public.
All things once owned by the now-defunct Independence Fire & Rescue Company will hit the auction block this morning at the fire department’s former headquarters at 40 Willoweby Road.
“Everything not nailed down to the floor must go,” said Drums-based attorney Donald Karpowich, who was court-appointed to oversee the sale of the department’s assets to pay off debts owed to creditors.
Bidding starts at 9 a.m. today and Karpowich hopes the fire station is bare within a few hours -- except for the fire trucks being auctioned. It might take a few days to transfer the titles, he said.
“I was able to generate a lot of interest. I expect there to be a lot of fire companies here bidding,” Karpowich said earlier this week, while giving The Citizens’ Voice a tour of the building. “I want to get rid of everything, but I want to get what I could for every item. This isn’t a fire sale. There’s creditors that are owed.”
The state attorney general’s office initiated this process nearly two years ago, moving to revoke the fire company’s charter and have its assets auctioned following turmoil within the volunteer company.
The move came as the fire company spiraled out of existence in 2013 due to the arrests of two former leaders on accusations they stole money from the fire company.
Former fire chief and treasurer Donald Bly was charged in March 2013 on accusations he embezzled from the department. In June of that year, township supervisors defunded and decertified the department, then known as Rice Township Volunteer Fire Department, and chose to hire the fire company in nearby Wright Township. The supervisors cited a lack of adequately trained members, poor response time and financial mismanagement.
Some members tried to resurrect the fire department in September 2013, under the banner of Independence Fire and Rescue Co. They renewed mutual aid agreements with several neighboring towns, but the company was never summoned to an emergency call.
Then, in December 2013, the new department’s secretary, Gina Tombasco, was charged with stealing about $30,000 from the fire company.
Days later, the department folded for good. Now, everything associated with the department is being sold off.
“A lot of people feel betrayed,” said Alicia Stier, a former fire department member who uncovered Tombasco’s theft. “Don Bly gave us a black eye and Gina Tombasco finished us off.”
Bly entered a diversionary program for first-time, nonviolent offenders in September 2013 after agreeing to pay restitution and court costs. Tombasco pleaded guilty in September 2014, paid $30,863 in restitution and was sentenced to one to 18 months in county jail.
Stier, who is also Rice Township’s secretary, said she noticed money was missing when she came back from vacation and she told fire department leaders about it.
“They kicked me out of the fire department,” she said.
For the past few months, Stier has been working with Karpowich to prepare for the auction.
“It’s sad,” Stier said. “I worked with a lot of the gentlemen who built this very building,”
Among the items being auctioned today is a ladder truck. There is no minimum bid because the engine is faulty.
Bidding starts at $5,000 for a 1988 Ford utility brush truck, similar to a pick-up, and $13,000 for a 1987 Mack tanker truck.
If someone had the money, they could purchase the department’s engine, but the bank lien on the vehicle is $175,000, Karpovich said.
He said he’ll likely advertise it for sale around the country.
Used firefighter gear up for auction might be attractive for some fire departments to outfit new members, Karpowich said.
“If they have a trainee, they might not want to suit them with new equipment because they might not stay,” Karpowich said. “There’s a lot of turnover.”
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(c)2015 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
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