Fire Department Has SCBA's Repossessed

[LineCapt 134]

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PETERSBURG, Va. — As the city of Petersburg continues to grapple with financial difficulties, the company that supplied the city’s fire department with new breathing equipment has repossessed the equipment.

 

Deputy Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant tells local media that Fire Protection Equipment Co. repossessed the equipment Wednesday because “the invoices had yet to be reconciled.” He says the $400,000 contract with the company was to have been paid for through a federal grant.

 

 “Basically, the city got a grant from the federal government to purchase the brand new air packs. The government wrote a check to the City of Petersburg earmarked specifically for the air packs instead of putting the money aside to a special account,” Beemer said. “Because it was allocated as a grant, they put the money in general funds and the money is gone and the vendors have not been paid.

 

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http://washington.cbslocal.com/2016/08/20/petersburg-fire-equipment-repossessed/

[mfc2257 464]

Not only is the money gone and the SCBA's not paid for, depending on how the grant was administered and the terms of the grant (I didn't read the whole article), the government may want their money back. Wouldnt be the first time.

[antiquefirelt 994]

25 minutes ago, mfc2257 said:

Not only is the money gone and the SCBA's not paid for, depending on how the grant was administered and the terms of the grant (I didn't read the whole article), the government may want their money back. Wouldnt be the first time.

Speaking as a taxpayer, we should all want the money re-collected. These grant programs use federal dollars and when they go unused they should return to the collecting body to offset other needs. Letting this one city slide helps its taxpayers at our expense. The downside is that the citizens and FD are likely going to suffer due to poor financial management in city administration.

[Oaks 18]

Can a vendor repossess items just like that?

 

[RICHEB126 5]

Having been both a Fire Fighter/ Chief and a Fire Equipment Sales person, dealing with the Federal FEMA money comes with strict purchase guidelines and even more strict penalties for misuse of designated monies. Not knowing how long the bill was hung out there repossessing the SCBAs is bold at best.  Wow!