FIRE CHIEF SAYS WHO TOOK LOANS OUT ON TRUCKS IS ‘A MYSTERY’
County officials said a loan company from out of state repossessed the trucks Monday and will not give them back until the department makes substantial payments on loans taken out against the trucks.
Representatives from the First Government Lease Company in Northfield, Illinois, took the fire trucks, claiming loans taken out on them had not been paid back, said Warfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jay D. Hinkle.
“It impacted me pretty bad,” Hinkle said. “I got mad at first and then it hurt me because the community is who suffers in this.”
Department leaders and county officials are trying to figure out who applied for loans on the trucks and why, since the vehicles were already paid off.
Kentucky State Police are investigating. In the meantime, Warfield firefighters are trying to figure out how to get the trucks back.
“Right now we’re going to try to seek some legal aid and see what we can do,” Hinkle said.
The Warfield Volunteer Fire Department is now down to two fire engines and a rescue truck, Hinkle said.
But Hinkle said the department is still able to provide adequate fire coverage to people in the Warfield area because they are receiving help from departments in nearby Inez and Kermit, W.Va.
The issue came up during Thursday’s meeting of the Martin County Fiscal Court.
Judge/Executive Kelly Callaham said, at this point, he’s not sure if the repossessed fire engines will ever be returned to Warfield.
“There’s some avenues with some grant money … we might be able to purchase a truck,” Callaham said. “We have some money set aside for Warfield for a new firehouse and we might be able to change the scope of work on that money to be able to buy a fire truck and try to get this thing moving forward.”
