Volunteer fire department announces breakup

LA MARQUE — Before there was a city of La Marque, there was a La Marque Volunteer Fire Department. Come Sept. 1, there no longer will be a volunteer fire department.

The group’s president announced at Monday’s council meeting that the 50-year-old organization would disband at the end of the month. That does not mean the city will be without fire service.

La Marque had a hybrid fire department, staffed mostly by paid fire fighters and supplemented by about 10 volunteers. The volunteer group, however, was the conduit for about $60,000 in fire department assistance from residents through a $1 a month donation on the city’s water bill.

“We feel our services are no longer needed or wanted by the city of La Marque,” volunteer fire department President Brad Watkins said during the meeting. He did not elaborate about why the group thought it was not wanted.

The group has been at odds with city hall for more than a year as city policies regarding the fire department spilled over into a public battle. The volunteer department’s board also locked horns with City Manager Eric Gage after he was directed by council to review the department’s financial records.

The volunteer fire fighters took the actions by the city as snooping into the private organization’s business and an attempt to dictate how the organization should operate. Even a public meeting with council members that at first seemed a positive step in easing tensions never materialized into a better working relationship.

Two months ago, Watkins asked residents to stop making the $1 donation as the organization debated its future.

“It’s not good,” La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacherl said. “They helped us out a lot as far as equipment.”

While chief of the fire department, Zacherl doesn’t hold an officer’s position with the volunteer organization.

Zacherl said the volunteers’ access to the donation funds was a “huge asset” to his department. He listed off about $73,000 in direct financial aid or equipment purchases by the volunteer organization that helped his department in 2009.

That included more than $8,500 to help pay for firefighters’ training and $27,000 in equipment purchases, including $10,000 to purchase emergency air kits used to help trapped firefighters breathe.

Through the years, the volunteer group chipped in cash to help the city meet its match on grants, including funding for a brush truck. On Tuesday, $31,000 worth of new digital radios arrived at the fire department.

While the Galveston County Firefighters Association paid the bulk of the cost, the La Marque volunteers kicked in about $2,000 so the radios were upgraded and included a better warranty, Zacherl said.

Despite the loss in financial support, Zacherl said he should be able to meet the department’s needs this next fiscal year.

“I’ll just have to keep a much closer eye on the budget,” he said, noting that if a need came up in the past, he would turn to the volunteers to fund it because city resources were limited.

He said the department also would switch to in-house training to make sure the firefighters were up to date on mandatory hours.

Watkins said his group already had closed out its accounts and any money left over was being given to the Galveston County Firefighters Association. The fireman’s hall also was to be turned over to the city, he said.

Gage said the announcement Monday came as a shock. He said he knew the volunteer group had issues, but that after a meeting with council five months ago he had not heard from the group’s leadership. He admitted he had not made an effort to contact the group either.

Gage said while the 2010-11 budget would not include any new equipment purchases, he said the city would make allowances for any emergency needs that might come up. He also said future budgets would include money for equipment and training needs.

“By no means will this hinder the fire department,” Gage said. “This is a great bunch of guys, and if they need something, we will find a way to get them what they need.”