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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 Some even say that volunteers with the department have to face out of date protective equipment and inadequate equipment onboard those same fire trucks.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?

Kimberly Volunteer Fire-Rescue Founded 1947 Staff - 25 volunteers and a chief Apparatus - Engine 1 (1990 ALF Century), Tanker 1 (1986 F700), Utility 1 (1992 Chevy Suburban), Mini Pumper 1 (1995 Ford F-350 Mini Pumper), Car 1 (2019 Chevy Tahoe), Car 11 (1992 Crown Victoria Kimberly VFR was founded as Kimberly Community Volunteer Fire Company in 1947, as a reaction to the Ponderosa Lumber Yard Fire of 1946. Previously, fire protection in the area had been essentially non-existent, and it had resulted in a total loss of one of the area’s largest lumber yards. A committee of World War II veterans formed and began gathering donations from community residents as well as lumber yards and other local businesses. A piece of land was donated by the rail yard, and a two-bay shed was built. The Kimberly Community Volunteer Fire Company was incorporated with William Roberts serving as the first fire chief, and the department used the remaining funds donated by the lumber yards and community to purchase and equip two pumpers: an American LaFrance 700 series and a Mack LF. A fire siren was mounted on the town water tower, and Mrs. Roberts began serving as the department’s dispatcher. To report a fire in the Kimberly community, someone would dial the switchboard operator, who would then transfer them to Mrs. Roberts. She would take the information and sound the fire siren, summoning the volunteers to the station, located just half a block from the Roberts residence. The department’s original roster listed fifty men, nearly all World War II veterans and most of them rail or lumber company employees. The department maintained a daily duty roster, and the mills, railyard, and lumber yards would release the duty members when the fire siren sounded. This arrangement worked well for the fire department for the first ten years. In 1957, a bill creating Ponderosa Pines State Park was signed into law. Overnight, the lumber industry around Kimberly saw itself slide into bankruptcy, with the largest forests in the area falling under state protection and oversight. Many of the lumber yards and mills shuttered overnight, putting employees out of work. Several of the lumber yards remained in operation due to owning large tracts of forest outside of the new state park, and the rail yard remained open to support the lumber mills, as well as the industrial city of Clinton. Firefighters that had previously worked at the lumber mills in Kimberly now were having to commute to Clinton, Crescent Falls, or farther for work. They were no longer able to leave work and respond to fire calls, and the duty roster had to be abandoned. Response began to depend on whoever was available. In 1965, KCVFC began to look for a new station site, deciding that they wanted a newer building with more bays and more space. They purchased the site of their current station and constructed a two-story block building with three double-deep bays. The department also purchased their first brush truck, a 1962 International Harvester with a privately fabricated tank and pump. Their membership wavered lower than it had been at the department’s peak, dipping down to around 30 men. Two years later in 1967, the department replaced their aging Mack pumper with a 1965 American LaFrance 900 series. They moved their original LaFrance engine to reserve status and sold the Mack. In 1970, the department acquired their first chief’s car, a surplus Chevrolet Impala from Saratoga State Police. The department scraped by throughout the next several decades, with nothing of note happening until December of 1980. On Christmas Eve 1980, a prominent businessman from Fort Shannon was traveling through Kimberly on his way home from an out of town business trip. He struck a patch of black ice on Tall Pine Road, losing control of his vehicle and striking a tree. When Kimberly Community VFC arrived on scene, they found the businessman to be entrapped. They called for Shiloh County Fire Department to respond with extrication equipment, but due to snowy conditions and the distance, it took over thirty minutes for SCFD Rescue 2 to arrive on scene. The businessman tragically died while Kimberly CVFC tried to cut him out with hand tools during the wait for SCFD assistance. The next year, the businessman’s family donated a 1966 Maxim rescue truck. The donation also included a HURST Model JL-32 Jaws of Life. This was the first set of hydraulic extrication equipment in Shiloh County east of Oxnard town limits. In 1979, the department replaced the Internal Harvester brush truck with a Dodge pickup with a privately fabricated skid unit. In 1985, the fire department changed their name to Kimberly Volunteer Fire-Rescue, choosing to move away from the Fire Company name. In 1986, the department purchased their a tanker. It was home-built on a 1984 Ford F700 by members of the department. In 1988, Kimberly VFR experienced their first and to-date only line of duty death. Two firemen were responding to a woods fire in the 1947 LaFrance reserve engine when they lost control and rolled the vehicle, killing them both. Shiloh County FD responded to the accident due to Kimberly being tied up with the woods fire. Both firemen were deceased when Shiloh County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived on scene. In 1990, the department purchased an engine to replace the destroyed LaFrance. They chose to remain with ALF and purchased a 1990 American LaFrance Century. It was placed into frontline service and the 1965 American LaFrance was donated to the Saratoga State Fire Museum. In 1995, the department replaced the brush truck with an F series rescue body minipumper. In 1998, the department purchased a 1992 Suburban for use as a utility truck and a 1992 Ford Crown Victoria to replace the aging chief's car. In 2018, the department purchased their newest apparatus, a 2019 Chevy Tahoe chief’s car. Recent years have seen the department struggling to fill seats on the apparatus, with fewer and fewer young people showing interest in the volunteer fire service. The membership continues to age, but continue to provide the best service they are capable of.