Leadership

Florida Firefighters Accused of Making Up Duty Calls

July 13, 2013

Four volunteer firefighters with the Big Coppitt Volunteer Fire Department and the Big Pine Key Volunteer Fire Department have been suspended pending an investigation into whether they fraudulently signed their names on reimbursement forms.

Source The Reporter (Tavernier, Fla.)

July 12--Four volunteer firefighters have been suspended pending an investigation into whether they fraudulently signed their names on reimbursement forms.

The forms are signed by firefighters after they respond to emergency calls. But these firefighters are accused of seeking reimbursement for calls for which they did not respond. Volunteer firefighters are unpaid but are reimbursed for expenses such as fuel and food.

The firefighters, who have not been named, are members of the Big Coppitt Volunteer Fire Department and the Big Pine Key Volunteer Fire Department.

The allegations have been brought forward by those department's volunteer associations, said James Callahan, chief of the Monroe County Fire-Rescue Department, which oversees volunteers.

The chiefs of the departments did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The Monroe County Clerk of the Court's Office of Enforcement and Auditing is investigating the allegations. Investigator Pamela Sellers would not comment on the case.