Lakeville residents want answers about volunteer fire department

 

SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- It’s been just over a month since the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department stopped responding to calls, and now residents are demanding answers. 

“We have some questions we’re waiting on to get answered,” says an anonymous Lakeville resident. 

As community members demonstrate outside a closed-door meeting of the Lakeville- Union Township Advisory Board, they want answers from Trustee Kelly Carrico about the delay in reopening the volunteer fire department. She didn’t respond to neighbor’s calls for answers. 

“There might be real reasons why it’s delayed, and I think maybe some communication as to why the delay is and people would be a little more understanding,” says the anonymous resident. 

In a town hall meeting last month, Carrico said the volunteer department couldn’t operate because of an underlying contract issue leaving the firefighters not properly insured. 

The Trustee and board said they would get the department back up and running as soon as possible but there was no timeframe. 

The Southwest Fire Territory has covered the area in the past month, responding to roughly 40 calls since the shutdown. 

Locals are still confused about what’s actually being done. 

“It’s about the volunteers and what can our board do for us to get things moving,” says the resident. 

Carrico didn’t answer ABC57’s request for an interview and didn’t talk to any demonstrators when she left. 

There will be a public Fire Territory meeting at her office on Wednesday at 2:30.