The boat that is sinking a fire company: A misuse of federal grant money or just a nasty battle between police & fire in Bensalem, PA?

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Earlier STATter911.com coverage of Bensalem’s Union Fire Company here & here

The Union Fire Company in Bensalem, Pennsylvania has a knack for making news and little of it is the type of news coverage you want. Recently, for the second time in just 13 months, town officials suspended fire department operations demanding a change in leadership (see video at bottom of page or click here for the latest suspension). Now, with a new chief in place, the fire company has to deal with what is behind some of the bad blood between firefighters, town leaders and police officials. It’s Marine 37, Union Fire Company’s $1 million fireboat.

The whole mess has caught the attention Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney. Kinney, in today’s paper, explains how the Union Fire Company got to this point, and makes it very clear that she thinks that taxpayer’s money was wasted with the federal grant that helped fund Marine 37.

Take the time to read Kinney’s column. Even if you disagree with what she has written and believe, as some of the firefighters do, this is just a case of the police department being jealous that they didn’t get the boat, there are some important lessons to be learned.

As we know, in recent years there has been a great deal of federal grant money floating around that many, many fire departments have put to good use. We have seen articles in the past across the country questioning the need for some of the purchases made by both fire and law enforcement.

The lesson here is that it’s one thing to convince the federal government you need something and have your grant application approved, it may be a completely different thing convincing the public that their money is being well spent. Make sure you are able to justify the purchase to the press and the citizens and show it is being put to good use. As you will see from just the beginning of her column, Monica Yant Kinney isn’t buying it (again, take the time to read the whole column):

What’s a tiny volunteer fire company in Bensalem doing with a $1 million taxpayer-funded fireboat tricked out to troll the Delaware River for blazes, bodies, terrorists, and IEDs?

Nothing, besides preening for festival crowds and crashing into objects seen and unseen.

The tale of how the dysfunctional Union Fire Company won a wad of Homeland Security money to buy a state-of-the-art terror-taming boat screams post-9/11 planning at its nuttiest.

 One of the former chiefs defends the purchase of Marine 37.

The volunteers’ bold play to dabble in regional law enforcement has soured relations with Bensalem’s paid police department. Two Union chiefs have resigned as a result of boat acrimony and embarrassing accidents. And just maintaining the vessel is draining the fire company’s meager resources.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

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