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Kimberly Volunteer Fire-Rescue: Hometown Heroes or Tax Thieves? Everyone who lives in Kimberly is familiar with the men and women of Kimberly Volunteer Fire-Rescue. They’re neighbors, friends, sometimes even family. Good Samaritans who donate time to serve their community, purely out of the goodness of their hearts. The fire chief, Michael Mathers, can often be seen around town in the department-provided Chief’s SUV. The white fire trucks can be seen racing to emergencies in times of needs. But recently, dark accusations have surfaced against the good-hearted volunteers. Some people in town are beginning to question the department’s money management ability, with the town’s fire trucks unquestioningly older than anyone else’s around. Some even say that volunteers with the department have to face out of date protective equipment and inadequate equipment onboard those same fire trucks. A town document obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request lists the budget for KVFR as 151,000 dollars. It lists $40,000 as being provided by a county subsidy and the remaining $111,000 coming from the town of Kimberly. This represents the county paying for nearly a third of KVFR’s operating expenses. National standards published by the National Fire Protection Association say that fire engines should be replaced on average every ten years. Kimberly operates only one vehicle newer than ten years old - the 2019 Chevy Tahoe driven by Chief Michael Mathers. This is in stark contrast to the town’s primary fire engine - a 1990 American LaFrance. Many members of the community question why Chief Mathers drives a car only a year old, while the fire engine is thirty years old and aging. Public records indicate that the oldest fire truck operated by Kimberly, a water tanker, is a 1986 model, and the newest, a brushfire truck, is only a 1995. Yet Chief Mathers drives a brand-new SUV around town, using tax money to pay for gas and his salary. I reached out to Chief Mathers for a comment explaining the purchase of his vehicle over a new fire engine, and did not receive a response. A look into Chief Mathers’ salary reveals some startling numbers. His salary is $75,000 a year, with benefits bringing the town’s total expenditure on Chief Mathers to 101,000. 66% of KVFR’s budget goes to paying to have Chief Mathers on duty from Monday to Friday, 9AM to 5PM. Not even 24 hour fire protection. Not even the minimum recommended by national standards, which is four firefighters on a fire engine. Many community residents question whether KVFR can continue to provide adequate response to emergencies in the community. Some posit the idea that as happened in Clinton, the Shiloh County Fire Department should take over administration of the department, combining departments to decrease overhead costs and share costs of equipment and manpower. I sent an email to Chief Mathers, asking for comment on several questions posed by the community, and this was the only portion that elicited a response. His reply is displayed below and has been edited to allow it to be printed. “As long as I am the Chief of Kimberly Volunteer Fire-Rescue, Shiloh County will keep their ******* noses out of town business. We are Hometown Heroes providing the best service with what pennies the town gives us. Shiloh County and the ERT have chosen to support the county-based paid service instead of the volunteers, but Kimberly doesn’t need their **** money anyways. KVFR will continue to provide service uninterrupted. Chief Michael M J Mathers Kimberly VOLUNTEER Fire Rescue We fight what you fear, for free. The Real Hometown Heroes” Chief Mathers’ claim that the county does not support KVFR is, of course, demonstrably false. Not only does the county provide financial support to KVFR, but county records show that in 2019, Shiloh County Fire Department units were dispatched to 51 calls for service within the town limits of Kimberly. Of these 51, 11 were requests from Kimberly for aid, 20 were ambulance calls when the Kimberly ambulance was already on a call, and 30 were calls dispatched to SCFD units by ERT due to the communications center not receiving a confirmation that KVFR units were responding to the call. Of the 30 where KVFR did not answer, it shows that 17 resulted in SCFD being cancelled by Chief Mathers when he finally responded to the call. I dug deeper into KVFR’s financial situation, speaking to several current and former members, as well as several of the department’s commissioners. These interviews revealed that Chief Mathers and the department throw several social parties throughout the year - Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter - for each occasion, I was able to track expenses to the department’s funds. Surely the funds could have been better used elsewhere? One member I interviewed, whose identity will remain hidden to protect him, showed me the expiration dates of his personal protective equipment. His coat, pants, boots, and helmet were all past the manufacturer’s expiration date, varying from being only days out of date to over a year. He informed me that he was unable to attend the fire academy due to not having in-date equipment, and that Chief Mathers had informed him that there was no room in the budget to purchase new equipment for him. I sent another email to Chief Mathers questioning whether this exchange had occurred, and it was met with silence. Chief Mathers appears to have a lot to hide from the public concerning his expenditures and his management of the department’s funds, but from what little I have seen, I am deeply concerned for the residents of Kimberly. KVFR swears they will answer the call when needed, but will they be able to if their trucks and equipment is unusable?