SLED: Upstate Fire Department Under Criminal Investigation
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Published: November 21, 2008
Updated: November 21, 2008
It’s a fire district under siege.
Chief David Culbreth and the Board Of Commissioners are facing a criminal investigation.
The State Law Enforcement division is probing the department’s finances and practices.
SLED says it received a complaint in August regarding allegations of breach of trust and embezzlement.
It was the subject of a heated board meeting Tuesday, and we asked the chief if criminal activity had or was taking place.
“There’s no money missing at all,“ he said.
Firefighters have told NewsChannel 7 their retirement funds were missing money for months.
The chief blamed that and the SLED investigation on bad bookkeeping, and says he is making accounting improvements to correct things.
“I haven’t been chief but 18 months, it just takes a long time to reorganize what’s going on,“ said Chief Culbreth.
But some within and outside the department are skeptical.
Jeff Knight told us, “The biggest thing everybody is upset about is the reputation of the fire department.“
Knight has family in the department. He is also the brother of former chief Danny Knight. At tuesday’s meeting bad blood was evident between the Knight family and Chief Culbreth. But knight vows, this isn’t a vendetta. He says firefighters are truly concerned.
“There’s nothing personal at all, the only thing that concerns me is the name of that fire department and the taxpayers of this community.“
No current firefighters would talk on camera about what they see going on, because they claim, the chief has threatened to fire anyone who talks about the investigation.
Chief Culbreth told us he is not going to talk about this case anymore. He says he is tired of the fighting back and forth. He says he is confident the SLED investigation will show nothing improper.
SLED says it is close to completing the investigation.
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Reader Reactions
(thirty3), It sounds as if you may have some inside information. As you were writeing you were pumping up the present administration and then you suddenly changed your course of direction and stated “at least it’s my understanding.“ Then you went on to say, “unless you really played a role in this - I don’t see how you can pass judgement.“ I have to ask, do you have a part in this?
I’ll have to agree with ssk728, you don’t think SLED would waist their time to investigate this situation if they didn’t see some probable intent of wrong doing, do you? Well, believe this, if there is some wrong doing, SLED will get to the bottom of it, and if there is some sort of embezeling going on I hope they lock up the entire administration and throw away the key. It is wrong to misrepresent the tax paying citizens of this community and steal their hard earned money.
As a taxpayer of this district, I am very concerned at the reports I am hearing and received in the mail this past weekend. There were a lot more people that received the noted letter than what was on the enclosed list. I believe people are losing site at what the real reason for this investigation is. It isn’t whether or not Chief Culbreth is a good chief or not, but whether or not he and his administration, along with the commission board are misusing the funds that I and every other tax paying citizen in this fire district are working so hard to pay these days. According to the copy of the budget I received, Chief Culbreth does have a lot to answer for as he went over budget by more than $250,000. This is public record and each and every citizen of the Westview Fire District should show their concern and demand answers as to where our money is going. I hope every citizen will stand up and ask the questions that need to be asked at the monthly commissioner’s meetings. These meetings are open to the public and when concerns that this are brought to light, the citizens need to play a bigger role in the life of our fire dept. The commissioner’s are supposed to be our voice, but if the voice they are portraying is not one that is acceptable to us, then we need to speak for ourselves.
Thirty3, do you think giving SLED a reason to investigate you is doing a good job? I don’t think so. SLED usually has good reasons to start an investigation. I don’t remember ever reading in the paper or seeing on the news SLED investigating the fire dept. under the supervision of the previous chief. How can you say “pass judgement” when SLED has enough info to be investigating??
Also trk182, you say it is hard to believe someone with a nice salary can be stealing money. We see it in the news everyday where people cheat and steal for money. No matter how much some people make it is never enough. Greed and jealousy make people do evil things!
well,it’s kinda hard to believe that someone with a nice salary already, would use tax payers money for personal reasons. But dipping in the cookie jar isn’t just using tax payers money out right. It can also mean using dept vehicles for personal reasons, isn’t that using tax payers money for personal reasons? I don’t know, but i have always believed in the old saying, and it is oddly appropriate. “Where there’s smoke, there’s usually a fire.“
I agree that WFFD has some great firefighters, EMT’s and paramedics that work there - I thank God we have these men that go in every day wondering if they will go home the next morning - I’m sure every Firefighter has that thought - I’m glad that WFFD is there to service our area because they do a great job in what they do! As far as Chief Culbreth - under his administration the firefighters now have gear that is not duct taped together, as well as other safety devices that are now in place. The list of safety problems could go on, but they are being worked on daily - or at least it’s my understanding. This is just a matter of the media once again trying to exploit things and start up things that could be avoided - I believe the current Chief is doing a great job with what he came into - which was a complete mess! I know we are all concerned with our safety at home and with our lives, but I don’t give it a second thought knowing that this great group of guys will be the ones responding to my call!
I know we are all concerned with this matter - but unless you really played a role in this - I don’t see how you can pass judgement. By the way - the Firefighting jobs - I’m sure they are out there, but they may not have a comparable benefit package and/or may not offer the salary that you are looking for.
I think we need to support the Current Chief in what he is trying to accomplish for his department, his men and this community!
Not only are the tax payers victims of the administration’s wrong doings but the actual firefighters are victims as well. They do not have anything to do with the administrative end of the business but they are the ones that mustface the public day in and day out. Westview is one of the busiest departments in Spartanburg County and those boys walk in the door everyday wondering if they are going to go home the next morning. They run an average of 20-25 calls in a 24 hour period and this is the thanks their chief gives them? The worry if they are going to have a job the next day because the chief and commision board is miss using the money? The morale is so low there that the only reason alot of them have not left is simply because there aren’t alot of firefighting jobs available at this time. Citizens of the Westview Fire District do this… stand behind your firefighters! They are wanting to do right. Don’t place any blame on them because it is simply NOT their fault. I encourage you to get involved in the affairs of that fire department. Because if you don’t you may very well end up losing that great group of guys that are willing to give up the ultimate sacrafice to save yours…their life!
It is such a relief to see the truth about what has been going on at this fire dept over the last 1 1/2 years come to light. SLED does not need to let up on their investigation one bit and needs to dig and dig until every scandalous detail is put out into the open. The current chief and commission board should be shaking in their boots at the trouble that they could be facing if all of the accussations that are being made against them are true, and I believe they are. It may be in their best interest to go ahead and resign instead of trying to post blame on everyone else, especially the past chief. They are doing nothing but making this harder on themselves for when this does come to a court of law. I know that there are many people affiliated with that fire dept that has to know the truth and may be too scared to speak up. This is not the time to be scared. You must speak up and tell the truth to defend the reputation the fire dept that you worked so hard to build up and that your current chief and commission board are so easily tearing down.
SSK you are absolutely correct. I would not be at all surprised and hope that the truth behind this scandal comes to light sooner than later. I have been affiliated with this fire dept for years now and know both David Culbreth and Danny Knight. This fire department has done nothing but go downhill since Danny’s wrongful firing. Danny Knight runs circles around David Culbreth when it comes to the chief’s job. Both David and the commission board need to be held accountable for the mismanagement of the funds of this fire dept. Also, based on the comments made by David in this article and the Herald Journal article accussing Danny Knight of distributing the letters, sounds like Mr. Culbreth is going to have alot more to worry about than a SLED investigation. His comments are slandering Mr. Knight’s name and are completely false. Mr Knight, if you read this, let me strongly encourage you to seek a lawsuit against David Culbreth for slander.
Sounds like this chief is just trying to place blame somewhere else and take the heat off of himself. Usually, when these types of stories surface it is not long until we read where the accused is arresed and charged with embezzlement. It is sad that it is always tax payers who are took advantage of. I would imagine that there is a “mountain of debt” since it is alleged that he is pocketing all the money.
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