Florence Rescue Squad closing after 38 years

By Jamie Rogers
Morning News Reporter
Published: July 1, 2008

FLORENCE — The Florence Rescue Squad closed its doors for good Monday after serving Florence County for more than 38 years.

The decision was made Thursday by the rescue squad’s chief and its seven-member board of directors.

Closing the squad wasn’t an easy decision but it had to be done because of rising costs and financial problems stemming from funds that were taken from the squad by former administration, Florence Rescue Squad Chief Bill Flynn said.

In March 2007, former Florence Rescue Squad chief and treasurer Kenneth Eugene Williams was arrested and charged after police said he embezzled more than $27,000 in funds from the agency during a two-year period.

“They were starting to question him about bills being paid,” Flynn said. “He could never answer the questions ... we started getting calls about bills not being paid.”

He eventually called the rescue squad’s bank to see what the account balance was, Flynn said.

“That balance kind of floored all of us,” he said.

Members soon discovered Williams hadn’t been paying the bills and had let the insurance on the squad lapse, he said.

The squad also accumulated fines for letting its non-profit status expire with the state, Flynn said.

“The late fines ... all of it snowballed. It grew and it grew and it grew and there wasn’t enough funds to pay the bills,” he said.

Officials could only prove Williams took about $27,400, which was repaid but squad members know a great deal more money is unaccounted for, Flynn said.

The squad operated mainly on money donated during fundraisers, but all the negative media coverage made the public wary of giving money to the organization, he said.

“I just feel really bad for our members,” he said. “All of us have worked hard — we all stepped up to the plate.”

The 15-person squad responded to emergencies, handled calls upon request from other public agencies and worked such events as the May Fly Air Show and the Pecan Festival.

Right now, squad members are working to return all the county’s assets.

After that work is complete, the squad will sell the building and all its property according to non-profit protocol, Flynn said.

“This is just heartbreaking to sit here and do all this,” he said. “Monday night was very emotional. If we’re going out, we want to go out gracefully.”