Editor's note: This is a follow up to Ed Ballam's article from earlier in the week.
It looks like the members of the Franklintown & Community Fire Company will be allowed to continue to use apparatus for events and weddings after town supervisors declined to sign a resolution restricting the use of fire trucks.
At a meeting, packed with firefighters and supporters on Wednesday night, the Franklin Township board of supervisors decided that because a 10-year contract with the fire department governing the use of the new rescue had been signed, a resolution to restrict its use would be moot.
“We’re very pleased and I’d like to thank everyone for all the support,” said Franklintown & Community Fire Company Lt. Kaitlin Stough. She spearheaded the effort to have the supervisors back down from their position.
The firestorm was apparently touched off by at least one disgruntled Franklin Township resident who was upset the department’s new rescue was used at a wedding on June 28. That wedding was between Kaitlin and her husband Wilbur Stough Jr., who is the fire department’s deputy chief.
After learning about the five-member board’s decision to have a resolution drafted expressing their desire that the fire company refrain from using fire trucks for “personal gain,” including weddings and private parties, she launched a campaign to stop the measure. She reached out to the media and began contacting people through Facebook.
Apparently, the campaign worked because the meeting on Wednesday in the tiny municipal building was packed to overflowing, with every seat taken and the crowd spilling out into the hallway.
Kaitlin Stough said it was overwhelming to see the support she got for her effort.
Among the attendees was an unidentified man who Stough believes was a resident of Franklin Township. At the meeting the man in his 40s said he felt deeply moved to speak in favor of the fire department and giving its members the right to use the apparatus as they see fit.
At the meeting, which happened on the eve of the 13th anniversary of September 11 attacks, the man said he lost seven FDNY firefighter friends that day and he understood the importance of Franklintown & Community Fire Company’s position.
“It was very emotional,” Stough said, noting that there were many weeping after the man spoke. As a firefighter herself, Stough said she thought the man was likely a firefighter at some point in his life, but she could not confirm her thoughts. There was an attendance record taken at the meeting, but Stough said not everyone signed it.
Stough said it was an honor to have the apparatus at her wedding on a joyous occasion. Too often, fire apparatus are associated with death and destruction, she said.
In an earlier interview, the town’s lawyer, Solicitor Bret Shaffer, said the board of supervisors had no authority to tell the fire company how to use its apparatus, but wanted to express a preference that the trucks not be used for things like weddings, birthday parties, and other events that could be considered “personal gain.” Shaffer said it was just a matter of trying to be responsible for equipment paid for with taxpayers’ money.
Stough said the effort was worth it because she was concerned about how far the desire for control would go. She’s also pleased that the issue is in the past. She’s also hopeful that one of the vocal critics of the department will back off a bit now that the level of support the fire company is known.
“It’s a good outcome for everyone,” Stough said.
