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Jack Coffelt, president of South Hagerstown Fire Co., stands by an old friend - the 1951 Mack Trucks fire engine that was long in active service with the volunteer company and still runs, but is driven only in parades. Coffelt said the vehicle was a real firefighter in its day, being able to pump 750 gallons of water a minute. Modern fire engines can pump 1,000 gallons a minute, Coffelt said. (By Ric Dugan/Staff Photographer) |
Jack Coffelt is surprised Washington County government and other local funding authorities haven’t asked his South Hagerstown Fire Co. to share some of its wealth.
“If the county would take and talk to us — the county (Volunteer Fire and Rescue) Association or the County Commissioners — yes, we do have a little bit of money to help with the other companies,” company President Coffelt said.
That’s an unusual remark coming from a volunteer fire company these days, but then, so is South Hagerstown’s financial asset and liability statement.
By this past January, at the end of its calendar 2010 budget year, the volunteer-owned company had $627,803 in cash and investments, according to the annual financial statement South Hagerstown gave the county government.
The company listed no debts.
During 2010, the fire company received the $24,500 basic subsidy that the county government gives each of the six volunteer fire companies in Hagerstown, regardless of need.
In addition, the fire company received about $29,000 from the fire and rescue association. It distributes money from the county Gaming Fund in equal shares, regardless of need, to each of the 27 local fire and rescue companies.
In addition, the county government paid the fire company $8,268.04 as reimbursement for the amounts it paid for electricity, heating, and water and sewer service for its 409 W. First St. fire station. And, it received $3,000 from the city to maintain its fire station.
In all then, the fire company received $99,773.62 — including $64,768.04 in public funding, plus $4,408 in bank interest, and a $25,000 donation from a local family in memory of a longtime firefighter.
By comparison, the fire company spent $55,236.82 during the year, it said in the financial report to the county government.
So it finished the year $44,537.80 ahead. According to the numbers, all but $1 of that was deposited into South Hagerstown’s cash and investments, which rose to a total of $627,803.28.
The money has built up over the years, mostly because the company has spent carefully, Coffelt and South Hagerstown’s Treasurer Jerry Cunningham said.
Having so much money makes Coffelt feel “somewhat” guilty, given that many volunteer fire companies in the county are barely scraping by.
A need for volunteers
But there is a sad side to South Hagerstown’s wealth.
The fire company’s membership has dwindled so much that the company hasn’t had any volunteer firefighters to respond to alarms in the past two years.
Those who do respond are the paid firefighters the city fire department assigns to work out of South Hagerstown’s fire station around the clock every day of the year.
But the fire company itself hasn’t had any volunteers to send out since November 2009, according to city Fire Chief W. Kyd Dieterich.
Coffelt said the situation saddens him greatly.
“If the county would take and talk to us — the county (Volunteer Fire and Rescue) Association or the County Commissioners — yes, we do have a little bit of money to help with the other companies,” company President Coffelt said.
That’s an unusual remark coming from a volunteer fire company these days, but then, so is South Hagerstown’s financial asset and liability statement.
By this past January, at the end of its calendar 2010 budget year, the volunteer-owned company had $627,803 in cash and investments, according to the annual financial statement South Hagerstown gave the county government.
The company listed no debts.
During 2010, the fire company received the $24,500 basic subsidy that the county government gives each of the six volunteer fire companies in Hagerstown, regardless of need.
In addition, the fire company received about $29,000 from the fire and rescue association. It distributes money from the county Gaming Fund in equal shares, regardless of need, to each of the 27 local fire and rescue companies.
In addition, the county government paid the fire company $8,268.04 as reimbursement for the amounts it paid for electricity, heating, and water and sewer service for its 409 W. First St. fire station. And, it received $3,000 from the city to maintain its fire station.
In all then, the fire company received $99,773.62 — including $64,768.04 in public funding, plus $4,408 in bank interest, and a $25,000 donation from a local family in memory of a longtime firefighter.
By comparison, the fire company spent $55,236.82 during the year, it said in the financial report to the county government.
So it finished the year $44,537.80 ahead. According to the numbers, all but $1 of that was deposited into South Hagerstown’s cash and investments, which rose to a total of $627,803.28.
The money has built up over the years, mostly because the company has spent carefully, Coffelt and South Hagerstown’s Treasurer Jerry Cunningham said.
Having so much money makes Coffelt feel “somewhat” guilty, given that many volunteer fire companies in the county are barely scraping by.
A need for volunteers
But there is a sad side to South Hagerstown’s wealth.
The fire company’s membership has dwindled so much that the company hasn’t had any volunteer firefighters to respond to alarms in the past two years.
Those who do respond are the paid firefighters the city fire department assigns to work out of South Hagerstown’s fire station around the clock every day of the year.
But the fire company itself hasn’t had any volunteers to send out since November 2009, according to city Fire Chief W. Kyd Dieterich.
Coffelt said the situation saddens him greatly.
