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The former chief of the Eastern Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department and his wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing more than $68,000 from the organization, a crime that officials said led to financial struggles that eventually forced it to close.
Derrick Bollinger, 37, and his wife, Regina Bollinger, 26, who served as the department's secretary, were sentenced to six years' probation and ordered to repay the money they stole.
But in imposing that penalty, Westmoreland County Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr. issued a blistering rebuke to local politicians for not properly funding fire services throughout the state.
“They took advantage of an opportunity here,” McCormick said of the Bollingers. “But on the other hand … Pennsylvania is in the dark ages in supporting fire companies.”
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, more than 97 percent of Pennsylvania's nearly 1,200 fire departments operate with volunteers and just a handful of larger departments use paid firefighters. Westmoreland County Public Safety Director Roland Mertz said all of the county's 122 fire departments operate with volunteers and just one municipality, Jeannette, has a single paid firefighter on staff.
Mertz said volunteer departments operate by using funds raised by the fire company and small donations from their host municipality. McCormick called that arrangement problematic.
“This is not the first time there was fraud because nobody was paying attention. This is a damn shame that it is happening in Derry Township right now. If politicians don't take on the responsibility to take on fire safety in this state, then shame on them,” McCormick said.
Officials said they first suspected there were financial issues at the Eastern Derry department in 2013. An audit a year later revealed substantial financial irregularities that prompted township supervisors to halt all local funding and eventually shut down fire department operations. The department's fire station was foreclosed on in early 2015. The Bollingers were charged with theft and other related offenses for stealing what officials said was $68,000 dating to 2011.
Derry Township Supervisor Vincent DeCario said fire service in the township is now covered by the Bradenville department, the lone remaining local volunteer organization, as well as from volunteer fire departments in neighboring communities.
“It was a very trying time, and we look like the bad guys because we have residents under distress. It's just a black eye for the township,” DeCario said.
Mark Piantine, chief of Derry's Bradenville station, said his department handles more than 100 additional fire calls a year since the Eastern Derry closing and that more than 70 percent of the money his department needs to operate is generated through local fundraising efforts.
“From fundraisers, we got next to nothing when this (the Bollingers' arrest) first happened,” Piantine said. “And our response time is slower. There are times where we have to travel nine miles to get to an area from our fire department. Minutes is the difference between life and death.”
Following Tuesday's hearing, DeCario bristled at the judge's comments, saying the township did its part by giving the department about $30,000 a year in local funding.
“I think we helped them out pretty good. This just tells me our judicial system is broke. Someone who gets a DUI goes to jail, and they steal $70,000 (from the fire department) and nothing happens,” DeCario said.
In addition to the probation terms, the judge ordered Derrick Bollinger to serve two years on house arrest and barred both husband and wife from serving as volunteers for any organization.
The Bollingers offered no explanation for the thefts, but in a statement Derrick Bollinger asked for forgiveness.
“I will do everything I can for the rest of my life to prove I am a good person who did a bad thing,” he said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
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