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Rash of house fires hits Macon County

During the month of September, Macon County experienced one of its most notable spates of structure fires.

During a three-week period starting Sept. 7, four large structures succumbed to fire in the county — including the house of Franklin Fire Chief Warren Cabe.

Battle of the Bucket: Haywood volunteer firefighters test mettle in annual showdown

fr firefightersWith torrential rain and a fierce wind blowing through the Haywood County Fairgrounds last Thursday evening, the harsh weather conditions didn’t deter several local fire departments from their mission of the day — to claim victory during the “Battle of the Bucket” at the Haywood County Annual Firefighter Competition.

Former Bryson Fire Chief and wife charged with embezzlement

Former Bryson City Fire Chief Joey Hughes and his wife, Cylena, were arrested and indicted on embezzlement, fraud, and other charges last week for allegedly purloining money from the volunteer fire department’s fundraising arm.

More than $200,000 was taken over several years, according to the charges brought by the State Bureau of Investigation. The Hughes were indicted by a grand jury last week on 48 counts.

Former Bryson fire chief charged in connection with fire department funds

The former Bryson City fire chief Joey Hughes is facing criminal charges following a months-long investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation into missing funds from fire department coffers.

His wife, Cylena Hughes, has also been charged in connection with missing funds from the fire department. She was a signatory of two fund-raising arms of the fire department — the Friends of the Firemen and the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Donations from the community to the fire department were funneled through these accounts, which were solely controlled by the Hughes.

Sagging roof trusses on Waynesville fire station prompt lawsuit

The town of Waynesville is suing a Hendersonville contractor for negligence in the construction of its new fire station on the outskirts of downtown.

In its complaint, the town alleges that Construction Logic’s work was defective and did not follow the planned specifications for the roof of the fire station.

“The suit is about fixing the roof and who is going to fix the roof,” said Town Manager Lee Galloway.

In early 2007, the town signed a $2.3 million contract with Construction Logic to build the Waynesville Fire Department’s headquarters.

“They were responsible for everything, the roof and the beams and the construction of the fire station,” Galloway said.

About a year after its completion when about 14 inches of snow fell in Waynesville, portions of the metal-paneled roof over the fire station’s equipment room began to sag.

Engineers found several flaws in the construction of the trusses, which hold the roof in place. More than 75 percent of the bolts connecting the trusses were loose, and a majority of the bolt holes at the top of each truss were reamed, according to court documents. All of the trusses were bent at least three-quarters of an inch; one was deflected as much as 2.75 inches, which could cause leaks or other structural problems.

The engineers who studied the roof declared that it is not a safety hazard. And, it has not leaked.

“But it needs to be remedied and fixed,” Galloway said. The cost of fixing such a critical part of the structure could reach up to $400,000, he said.

The town brought the defect to the Construction Logic’s attention in 2010, Galloway said.

“And, they have never fixed the roof,” he said. “They never indicated a willingness to fix the roof.”

Construction Logic failed to apply the proper standard of care to which all contractors must adhere, according to court documents.

The town has alleged charges of negligence, breach of contract and breach of warranties. Waynesville officials are seeking $30,000 in damages in addition to the cost of repairing the roof and bringing it into compliance with the original building plans.

The company, according to its website, has operations in Hendersonville and Asheville. Neither the company nor its lawyer Brad Stark of Asheville responded to several requests for comment.

State to Bryson City Fire Department: respond to false alarms

Bryson City Fire Department failed its state mandated insurance inspection last week for failing to respond to false alarms.

The department would often be en route to a call when firefighters heard from 9-1-1 dispatchers that it was actually a false alarm. The dispatcher would cancel the call, and the volunteer firefighters would go back home. It is unknown how many instances there were. It only takes two so-called “non-responses” to fail the inspection, and after that the state quits counting, said Marni Schribman, a public information officer with the N.C. Department of Insurance, in an email.

The state requires fire departments to respond to the scene, even in the case of a false alarm, to verify it is indeed false. The inspector met with the local dispatch supervisor and informed them of the rule, Schribman said. The dispatch supervisor said they will now notify the fire department if a call is a false alarm but will not cancel the fire department’s response, she said.

The argument over the non-responses seems to be a matter of paperwork, however.

If at least four firefighters do not report to the scene when a fire alarm is triggered, the call must be classified as a non-response. In some cases, a single firefighter may continue to the scene, but if the required four do not, it gets logged as non-response.

Fire departments are required to submit all their calls to the N.C. Department of Insurance. There is nowhere in the filings for the fire department to indicate if a firefighter confirmed a false alarm call, said David Breedlove, coordinator of Swain County 9-1-1.

Dispatch is working on how it logs calls to make records more comprehensive, Breedlove said.

Swain County’s three volunteer fire departments receive about 20 false alarm calls each year, he said. Most of the false alarm calls come from non-residential buildings, and a worker is usually present to confirm over the phone to the dispatcher that there is indeed no fire.

The Bryson City Fire Department has now been placed on a 12-month probation and must not report any non-responses during that time.

“If they continue to have non-responses on a regular basis, then they could lose the current insurance rating,” Schribman said.

The probation will not affect their current rating or insurance rates for homeowners in their coverage area. The fire department has a good rating, Schribman said.

The state insurance department must inspect fire departments at least every five years, and a low rating could cause the price of homeowner’s insurance to rise.

The Cashiers Glenville Fire Department in neighboring Jackson County only receives two or three false alarms each year.

“We don’t have a whole lot,” said Corey Middleton, chief of the department.

Often times, false alarms are triggered by strong winds or thunderstorms, Middleton said. When the department learns that the alarm is false, whoever is closest to the scene continues to the address to confirm the false alarm, he said.

Bryson town officials failed to keep tabs on fire department finances

Despite multiple red flags, Bryson City officials failed to provide proper oversight of the town’s volunteer fire department over the past decade, eventually leading to a State Bureau of Investigation probe of possible misappropriation by the fire chief.

An investigation by The Smoky Mountain News shows:

• For almost a decade, Bryson City leaders knew something was awry with the fire department’s finances but failed to get to the bottom of it.

• The town was afraid to confront former Fire Chief Joey Hughes, fearing he would lead a strike of the volunteer firefighters as threatened and refuse to respond to emergencies.

• The Ladies Auxiliary, the department’s fundraising arm, went unaudited, unchecked and unmonitored for years. The lack of checks and balances created an atmosphere that gave Hughes, a volunteer firefighter, virtually total control of donations to the department and community fundraising efforts.

“It took a whistleblower in this case,” said Paul Miller, executive director of the North Carolina State Firemen’s Association.

Hughes is now under investigation for improperly using funds donated to the fire department. The State Bureau of Investigation is scrutinizing records collected from the department’s two secret bank accounts and Hughes’ Swain County home.

When the official investigation in the fire department’s finances began this summer, Assistant Police Chief Greg Jones found two accounts that town leaders were unaware existed — “Friends of the Firemen” at United Community Bank and “Ladies Auxiliary” at the North Carolina State Credit Union.

Checks addressed to the Bryson City Fire Department had been deposited into both accounts, according to search warrants issued for the bank records of the two fundraising arms. The confiscated documents include statements, signature cards and cancelled checks.

Investigators are trying to piece together where the money in the accounts went after that and whether any of that funding actually benefited the fire department and its firefighting efforts.

Hughes’ wife Cylena was listed on the signature card for both accounts, while Hughes, Wendy Peterson and Heather Wiggins were listed as possible signatures for the “Friends of the Firemen” account.

Investigators conducted another search of Hughes’ home on Hyatt Creek Road in Bryson City in October. Agents with the North Carolina Department of Insurance and State Bureau of Investigation seized paperwork, two computers and a collection of checks, stamps and envelopes.

Hughes Tuesday denied any wrongdoing on his part. The former fire chief said that he was the victim of dirty politics and that he’d never misused fire department funds or abused his position.

“I hope Bryson City gets a mayor from Bryson City,” Hughes said, a critical reference to Mayor Brad Walker who isn’t originally from the mountains.

Hughes blamed Walker for spreading misinformation. Hughes said that his troubles date to disagreements about equipment purchases the fire department made under Mayor Bruce Medford more than six years ago, and that Walker, as a friend of Medford’s, is simply engaging in dirty politics because of those old disagreements.

Hughes’ house has recently been put up for sale by owner.

 

In the beginning

Troubles with Hughes dates back eight to nine years ago. The former fire chief talked his fellow firemen into striking, according to a search warrant issued for the Hughes’ home.

The volunteer firefighters “threatened to close down the fire department,” Walker told The Smoky Mountain News.

Back then, town leaders told the fire department that checks made out to the Bryson City Fire Department must go through proper town accounting procedures, Walker said.

“The best I remember there were some questions about the bookkeeping — how the records were being kept,” said Alderman Kate Welch.

The town feared another strike if they made Hughes mad and, therefore, maintained a relatively hands-off approach after that — without ever getting satisfactory answers to its questions.

Around the same time, Hughes closed the existing bank accounts for its fundraising arms and opened new ones that he could control access to — shutting out the town’s access in the process, Walker said.

Before the strike, the fire department’s account information was available upon request by the fire department’s executive board, according to warrants. Afterwards, however, Hughes would not share bank statements for the fundraising arms when asked repeatedly by fellow firefighters.

Hughes refused to open his books to the town as well. Officials were not privy to the finances of the fire department’s fundraising arms despite at least one official request.

Hughes told Town Attorney Fred Moody, in a letter dated July 13, that the Bryson City Fire Department had not had a bank account since Jan. 1, 2000, according to a search warrant.

Other firemen who asked about financial records were also told “no” by Hughes, the search warrant states.

A volunteer firefighter Mitch Cooper, who later provided the town with what he asserted was proof of Hughes’ mismanagement, is among those who asked where the (citizen) donations were going. Hughes told Cooper that he would get the information together.

Instead, Hughes would “fabricate a piece of paper of what was spent and how much was left,” according to a search warrant.

The fire department’s board of directors also asked about the bank statements for the fundraising arms. But in what was apparently his typical fashion, Hughes produced a handwritten notation, but no official documentation.

During Fireman’s Day in 2010, a community rally of sorts for the volunteer firefighters, town fireman David Zalva helped count the donations the department received, which totaled about $4,800, according to a search warrant. However, Hughes said only $600 was collected, according to a search warrant.

 

Informal oversight

At some point in the not too distant past, Bryson City’s mayors would also serve as fire chief, said Town Manager Larry Callicutt.

Because of this, the town board did not need formal oversights. The mayor, who was also the fire chief, maintained an informal line of communication between the firehouse and the town board.

Walker said he believes this resulted in a separation between the town board and the fire department because there was never a formal system of checks and balances. When Hughes came along, but wasn’t also the mayor, there was no prescedent of oversight.

“That’s my belief,” Walker said. “Somebody took advantage of (the separation).”

This meant the town did not exercise any oversight of the fire department’s fundraising activities, and officials did not know how much the department brought in, nor how it was being spent.

The Bryson City Fire Department has a local relief fund, a separate fundraising arm so to speak, as do other fire departments in the state.

A Board of Trustees, consisting of five fire department members, is supposed to oversee the local relief fund. However, this board never met, and people named in the annual reports did not know they were on the board.

As of 2002, Hughes was listed as treasurer of the Relief Fund Board, according to its annual reports. Charles Killebrew was listed as chairman of the board.

Killebrew told Chet Effler, an investigator with the State Department of Insurance, that Hughes asked him to serve on the board but stated that he never attended any meetings for the board nor saw any annual reports. Most of the firemen interviewed during the state investigation said they did not even know the Bryson City Fire Department had a local relief fund.

The department is required to submit an annual report to the State Firemen’s Association, detailing how much money the relief fund had at the end of the year, where it is invested and what funds were spent on that year. MOVED

Each fire department is required to submit the annual report if it wishes receive funding the following year. In most cases, departments must have permission from the association to spend relief fund monies.

“Based on the reports they sent, you really couldn’t tell anything was going on,” said Miller, executive director of the firemen’s association. That’s why Cooper’s whistleblower role was key to uncovering possible wrongdoings, Miller said.

Cooper told police in May that money collected during some donation and fund raising events was unaccounted for, and money given to the department was not “being maintained, accounted for, or properly used as intended,” according to a search warrant.

Cooper could not be reached for comment.

Walker said that Cooper brought cancelled checks to him, which showed that the fire department was misusing funds. Walker then presented the checks to the town board, he said. But he said he couldn’t the rest of the board to take it seriously.

“The board took no action,” Walker said. “I had to go around the board to get this done in the first place.”

According the search warrant, Walker asked the Bryson City Police to investigate the fire department’s fundraising accounts on July 15 after citizens had asked him about their donated funds and why the department’s building looked run down. The mayor said he did not remember when he presented the cancelled checks to the board, and he did not approach the police sooner, he said, “because there was no physical evidence.”

Alderman Jim Gribble declined to comment on Walker’s statement that the board did nothing when presented with the cancelled checks. Tom Reidmiller, a fellow alderman, said the board has no jurisdiction over the auxiliary.

“I can’t tell you much because I don’t know much,” added Alderman Welch.

The town had to “back off” until it had evidence of wrongdoing, she said, later adding that the mayor, who oversees the police department, handled much of the investigation.

“We (town board) don’t have authority to initiate an investigation,” Welch said.

Callicutt said the board turned the cancelled checks over to Moody, the town attorney.

 

Questions, but no answers

Throughout the past three years, the town has discussed the fire department at several workshops, or additional monthly discussion session held by the board. An Aug. 25, 2009, workshop, illustrates the board’s apprehension to question the fire department.

“We’re not trying to be big brother or anything,” stated a Bryson City leader. No one is identified directly by name on the recording.

That audio recording of the August workshop is preserved on cassette at Bryson City Town Hall.

At the time, the board was talking about requiring drug testing for all town employees and querying whether fire department members, who are volunteers, can be subject to such an obligation. The board also discussed requesting the department include a drug testing policy in its bylaws.

The board planned to meet with fire department members at a later time to discuss the possible implementation of a drug testing policy.

“I am sure the people over there will say, ‘why in the hell are they coming over here?’” said a town leader on the recording. “As of yesterday, half of them didn’t even know we were coming.”

Several times during the workshop various alderman expressed a need to form a relationship with the fire department.

“The main thing is to establish a relationship, and find out what’s going on over there,” said another official.

As the meeting drew to a close, the aldermen mentioned that the department is obliged to send the town any checks addressed to the Bryson City Fire Department — not put them in a separate accounts.

“It’s just the way it should be. Period,” stated a Bryson City leader on the recording. “If you don’t, you gonna cause questions, and it’s gonna get you in trouble.”

In 2007 when the town and the county met to discuss their contracts with county fire departments, resident Mike Clampitt expressed concerns about a lack of information regarding the Bryson City Fire Department.

“There seemed to be a shortage of information and accurate data available at the meeting,” Clampitt, a former firefighter, wrote. “A great amount of time was spent in speculation and conjecture, which for me is even more troubling.”

During the past few years, there have also been several incidents regarding the improper use of fire department vehicles. In July 2009, Callicutt issued a notice to all volunteer firemen, based on a policy passed in 2008, which prohibits personal use of a fire department vehicle.

The town had received complaints that Hughes’ son was riding in vehicles purchased for the department using taxpayer funds, Walker said.

Almost a year later, in March 2010, the town board told Hughes to implement rules and regulations for the use of its GMC Yukon Quick Response Vehicle. When the fire department reported that it had yet to pass rules and regulations regarding the Yukon in June 2010, Walker asked the department to give the vehicle to local police until such policies were in place.

 

“Lost in the shuffle”

In addition to the local relief fund, the Bryson City Fire Department also had a Ladies Auxiliary, a nonprofit fundraising arm.

“I think what got lost in the shuffle was maybe the Ladies Auxiliary fund” because no one was overseeing it, Miller said.

It appears that no one audited the Bryson City Fire Department auxiliary’s finances.

“The auxiliary, that has not been part of our business; maybe, it should have been,” Welch said.

Although the auxiliary is registered with the state as a charitable organization, it does not have 501(c)3, or federal nonprofit, status and has not filed any nonprofit tax forms with the Internal Revenue Service.

“I won’t say that it can’t solicit funds, but the funds would not be tax deductible by the people giving the donations,” said Dean Coward, treasurer of executive board for the state firemen’s association.

The Waynesville Fire Department, which has a mixture of volunteer and salaried firefighters, also has a fund raising arm separate from its relief fund or town monies. However, the organization is registered as a nonprofit with the federal government, requires two signatures on all its checks and has its finances maintained by a local accountant. Its finances are accounted for by the fire department, its members and the federal government.

Callicutt said the town knew about an auxiliary account but did not know that the Bryson City Fire Department has two bank accounts, “Ladies Auxiliary” and “Friends of the Firemen,” at two different banks and that the town’s lawyer had advised the town board that they had no control over any auxiliary accounts.

“If they collect money in the name of the auxiliary, that was separate money, and that doesn’t need to come here (to the town),” Callicutt said. “If it doesn’t come through here, then we don’t know what they do.”

Hughes told The Smoky Mountain News that the auxiliary funds were handled precisely as the town had instructed.

While the fundraising arms was theoretically an important piece of the fire department’s budget, the core operations are funded by the county and town.

The town contributes between $40,000 and $50,000, plus insurance costs. The county kicks in $40,320 each year, since the fire department responds to calls outside the town limits in the county.

The town manages all the town and county funding coming in to the department, writing checks for the fire department’s yearly expenses rather than giving the money directly to the department.

Within the last year, the town board has worked on amending the fire department’s bylaws to include a new fiscal policy.

“The bylaws that we know of were never really ratified by the board,” Walker said.

The new fiscal policy section states the all money belonging to the department or funds raised under its name should be deposited in an account with the Town of Bryson City. Firefighters may apply to the town for reimbursement for gas or out-of-town travel and must follow the town’s purchasing policy. And although the volunteers can still elect their chief, the board must approve him or her. The town board must also approve changes to the department’s bylaws.

 

The givers

The accounts impacted by the investigation into Hughes’ activities were specifically for donations and other funds raised in the name of the Bryson City Fire Department and its auxiliary. Those who gave from their own pocketbooks — both business owners and residents — were most affected.

“People are frustrated and concerned, and I think people just want answers,” said Scott Mastej, part owner of Cork and Bean Coffee House and Wine Bar in Bryson City. With the economy still in recovery, any form of “financial fraud” hurts even more, he said.

Bryson City resident Willard Smith has given money to the fire department in past years and doesn’t know what to believe.

“That’s kind of a mess ain’t it,” Smith said. “I hope it’s not too bad.”

Some people who have donated before, including Pasqualino’s Italian Restaurant owner Pascual Izquierdo, have lost faith in the fire department.

“Who will we trust now?” he said.

Too fancy or just right?

Waynesville has spent $7 million over the past four years building a new fire station, police station and town offices — projects that have come under fire by some challengers for the town board.

Opponents point to the architecture — the brick towers on the fire house, the wood timber frames over the police department entrance — and question how much they added to the price tag.

“I think it is a little extravagant,” said Hugh Phillips, who is running for mayor.

“They may be just a bit more than we really needed,” said candidate Sam Edwards, calling the buildings too fancy. “It certainly helped prettify things, but I don’t know if that was what we should be doing right now.”

But the incumbents say the attractive building design added little to the cost and was worth it.

“I am proud of those things, and if they want to rag on me for that, guilty as charged,” said Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown.

Mary Ann Enloe, a challenger in the race, lauded the buildings and doesn’t consider them extravagant.

“I think the designs are beautiful,” Enloe said. “Why didn’t we make the justice center look like that?”

Alderman Gary Caldwell said the town actually scaled back some elements of the building design.

“It could have been far more fancy than what it is now,” Caldwell said.

The new police department on Main Street also houses the town planning office where developers and entrepreneurs come for their building permits and business licenses. It was important for it to look nice, Brown said.

“You are trying to create atmosphere when they come in to town they are impressed, that they are in a progressive arena, a place where people are doing things,” Brown said.

Criticism of the town building projects has originated from a political action committee called the Waynesville-Haywood Concerned Citizens. A web site by the group cites the “ostentatious” police department and “extravagant” fire station.

The web site questions a few others town spending priorities as well, but one of the chief examples is inaccurate. It blasts the town for spending money on fancy downtown art. However, no town tax dollars went for the public art pieces. They were funded entirely with private donations.

Off-the-books accounts used to hide funds, warrants say

Less than two weeks after the Bryson City Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to fire Fire Chief Joey Hughes, state officials searched his home as part of an ongoing investigation into whether he misdirected funds.

Investigators with the North Carolina Department of Insurance and State Bureau of Investigation seized paperwork, two computers and a collection of checks, stamps and envelopes from the Hughes’ home on Hyatt Creek Road in Bryson City earlier this month.

The town has since named a new fire chief, Brent Arvey.

Hughes is under investigation for misusing money donated to the fire department’s fundraising arm. Suspicion around Hughes’ actions arose after he repeatedly ignored requests from town officials to see the financial records after being tipped off to problems by a whistleblower within the department.

Records reveal that:

• Money collected during fundraising drives went unaccounted for and otherwise disappeared from the books.

• The fundraising arm did not have a board of directors. A sham board existed only on paper.

• Hughes singly acted as treasurer of the fundraising accounts and denied repeated requests from volunteer firemen during the years to share financial information.

The following is an account, taken from three search warrants, of the town’s mounting suspicions and the subsequent investigation into Hughes’ off-the-books accounts.

May 14

Town officials were tipped off by a whistleblower that Hughes might be misappropriating donations to the fire department. A former volunteer firefighter, Mitch Cooper, who had left the fire department in June 2010, came forward with concerns and was interviewed by Assistant Police Chief Greg Jones.

“Cooper stated concerns that donated funds, as well as other monies obtained by the fire department were not being maintained, accounted for, or properly used as intended,” according to a sworn statement from Jones.

The former fireman also said monthly financial reports were not being given to members of the fire department, as required, and the documents were not available upon request either.

Jones then followed up with the former fire department treasurer Teddy Petersen, who said he stopped handling the finances after Hughes transferred all the funds to a different bank. During that time, Hughes and local town officials had a dispute over how the fire department was run.

According to state law, all funds given to the fire department, including donations and money from fundraisers, are supposed to be kept by the town. However, Hughes refused to provide the town with the department’s financial records, according to Jones’ statement.

June 9

Town Attorney Fred Moody submitted a written request to Hughes asking him to provide the town Board of Aldermen with seven years of financial records from the Bryson City Fire Department and its local relief fund, the fundraising arm for the fire department. Donations were funneled into one of two accounts: “Friends of Firemen” or “Bryson City Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.”

June 13

Hughes replied to the town, saying the fire department had not had a bank account since Jan. 1, 2000. His letter conflicted with reports filed with the N.C. Fireman’s Association over the past decade, which listed Hughes as the treasurer. The reports stated that donations to the local relief fund were invested in a money market account, although failed to list an account number.

July 15

Bryson City Mayor Brad Walker asked Police Chief Rick Tabor to look into the Bryson City Volunteer Fire Department’s accounts. Walker said citizen had inquired about the run down fire department and their donations.

August 19

Police seized bank records, including statements, signature cards and canceled checks, associated with the accounts “Friends of Firemen” and “Ladies Auxiliary.”

During his investigation, Jones found several checks written to the fire department had been deposited into these bank accounts without the town’s knowledge or proper accounting.

“This account is being used to secret fire department funds from the eyes of the Town Alderman and or the public,” Jones reported.

Jones also found that only Cylena Hughes, the fire chief’s wife, was able to access the “Ladies Auxiliary” account. Wendy Peterson, Heather Wiggins, Cylena or Hughes could sign for a separate “Friends of the Firemen” account that had recently existed at United Community Bank.

September 23

The town board unanimously votes to fire Hughes.

September 26

The district attorney’s office asked the State Bureau of Investigation to assist in the investigation.

September 29

As part of the investigation, Tom Ammons, an official with the State Bureau of Investigation, interviewed current and former Bryson City volunteer firemen.

Wayne Henry Dover, a volunteer firefighter for 17 years, told Ammons that after he was named to the department’s executive board in 2010, other firemen approached him with questions about financial records and where the department’s money was spent. When Dover brought their questions to the Hughes, he was told that everything was under control and he did not need to see the records.

About one year ago, Hughes informed the board that both of the accounts were closed. Then, in August when Dover asked to review the bank statements, Hughes gave the department’s executive board handwritten notes about the accounts.

Dover also stated that Hughes lied when he said the department had only raised $600 during Fireman’s Day in October 2010.

David Zalva, a member of the department since 2008, helped count the funds raised on Fireman’s Day. The fire department had collected about $4,800, said Zalva in an interview with Ammons.

According to Ammons’ statement, Cooper also inquired about the department’s finances and received only fabricated pieces of paper stating what was spent and how much money was left, according to his interview.

Most of the firemen interviewed said they did not know the Bryson City Fire Department had a relief fund.

However, Douglas Woodard, a volunteer firefighter since 1998, said Hughes led a strike over the account eight or nine years ago.

As of 2002, Hughes was listed as treasurer of the Relief Fund Board, according to annual reports filed with the State Fireman’s Association. Charles Killebrew was listed as chairman of the board.

Killebrew told Chet Effler, an investigator with the State Department of Insurance, that Hughes asked him to serve on the board. Killebrew stated that he never attended any meetings for the board, however, nor saw any annual reports or ever acted as chairman.

“Before the strike, bank statements could be seen, and Ed Watson was the treasurer,” according to Ammons’ statement. “After the strike, account information was never submitted to the membership for review. There was no treasurer.”

Swain gets new fire chief as probe continues

Bryson City has a new fire chief, after a police investigation spurred the ouster of long-term fire chief Joey Hughes last month.

Brent Arvey has been named as the new department head, replacing Erwin Winchester, the Swain County fire marshal who stepped in to temporarily fill the post after Hughes was fired.

Arvey is an 11-year veteran of the Bryson City Fire Department and rises to the top position from the post of 1st assistant chief, the second in command.

Though the department now has a leader at its helm, the controversy surrounding it has not subsided.

The Bryson City Police Department began an investigation into the firehouse and its finances in August, and preliminary results led the town board to fire Hughes as they continued to sort out the details.

The probe has now been turned over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, which will work with the district attorney’s office in the county to see if charges need to be filed.

“Due to the number of questions that were found, that’s why the SBI was called in to do this,” said Assistant Police Chief Greg Jones, who has led the investigation. “I thought we had enough discrepancies to call the district attorney and bring in the SBI.”

Not only was the investigation uncovering more questions, it was also becoming too unwieldy for Jones and the small, seven-member police department to manage on its own, while trying to simultaneously juggle regular patrols as well.

The only documents currently filed in the case are two search warrants for the fire department’s Friends of the Firemen and Ladies’ Auxiliary bank accounts. Though it would seem likely that these two accounts would take charitable donations on behalf of the department, neither is legally equipped to do so, lacking a 501-c3 designation that allows tax-deductible charitable donations.

It’s unclear what, exactly, is in the accounts and who controls them. As a town fire department, all money that comes in — even fundraiser returns and charitable donations — are supposed to come to the town for audit and allocation. But these two accounts, said Town Manager Larry Callicutt, have never been controlled by the town.

The battle between fire department and town did not start with this investigation. In June of last year, the town board voted to take a GMC Yukon away from the department, citing allegations that it was being put to improper, non-department use.

Then-chief Hughes maintained that he’d never been approached by the board concerning the truck, and said to the board and on the fire department’s Facebook page that it was used as a first responder vehicle.

Later in the year, a firefighter told the Smoky Mountain Times that he resigned his post in protest of the way the department’s finances were handled.

The county also got into a spat with the fire department over what it was paying for fire services.

Last week, the firehouse on Main Street was shuttered while local and state investigators inventoried and audited the equipment there. With that phase finished, the inquiry by the SBI continues, with no word yet on whether charges are forthcoming.

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