TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. — Wabash Township will be without paid firefighters as of June 30. That's as a result of township Trustee Jennifer Teising laying them off.
In an email to the three paid firefighters at the department, Teising makes it clear the last day of paid employment will be June 29 and the firefighters will receive their final paycheck on July 2. Teising goes on to say, "Thank you for your service and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors!"
Teising also references in the email that her assistant, Tricia Fultz, will be leaving her position on Wednesday. With Fultz gone and the paid firefighters laid off, Teising will be the only person left on the township's payroll.
Ed Ward, the former fire chief in Wabash Township, sent a statement to 13News, emphasizing concerns with Teising's actions.
Losing the department's career staff members will have a noticeable impact on the response times and patient outcomes on calls for service in Wabash Township.
Ward's statement goes on to say:
I believe that Trustee Teising's decision to terminate Assistant Chief Joe Wade, Firefighter/EMT Travis Merkel, and Firefighter/Paramedic Drew Hampton (36 years of combined Fire, EMS, Firefighter Instruction, & Leadership experience) is a grave mistake and one that will only be truly seen when something truly catastrophic occurs to a member of WTFD or a member of the community. Trustee Teising owes the members of Wabash Township Fire Department, her constituents, and those in the surrounding communities the safety, care, and compassion that they all deserve and that they experienced prior to her taking office. Wabash Township also owes their full and unbridled support to Assistant Chief Wade, Firefighter Merkel, Firefighter Hampton, and the family of volunteers the agency the ability to do this incredibly dangerous and taxing job.
The Wabash Township Firefighter's Association echoed Ward's sentiments in a release:
She has stated repeatedly that the reason for dismissing the paid firefighters from the department is due to "budget constraints" (most recently on 6/7/2021) available to pay them and lack of agreement with the Wabash Township Board to use the funds from Emergency Loan obtained in 2020 to continue their pay and benefits.
This statement from Trustee Teising stating there is no money and the Wabash Township Board isn’t wanting to spend emergency loan money is directly contradictory to emails with fund information provided by the Wabash Township Board and statements made by the Board in email and in several Wabash Township Board meetings in which the Board members reiterated that they wanted to use to the money obtained as part of the 2020 Emergency Loan to fund the salary and benefits for the existing firefighters.
The association's statement goes on to say:
Over the past 6 months she has done everything she can to demoralize the firefighters, attempt to harm the fire and EMS protection of the township, and ruin the relationships we have with our neighboring departments.
It concludes with a series of points, including:
In summary, she has provided last day notices to the department's career staff stating there is not enough money to continue their employment. This is a LIE.
13News reached out to Teising for a response to the paid firefighters being laid off and for the reasoning. She said the decisions she is making are financial decisions in the best interest of the township. She said she has no intention of resigning. Teising said she is finding it difficult to have honest and constructive conversations about the fire department with the township advisory board and the fire department itself.
She has in past Facebook posts stated that there is not enough money coming in to support firefighter operations, that she had encouraged the township's board to apply for emergency funds and that she had been looking at permanent solutions and listed: a fire territory, fire district and/or ambulance services per state regulations.
The township advisory board meets Tuesday night at 6 p.m. and the fire department issues are on the docket, but it is unclear if the board has any authority to prevent the trustee from terminating the remaining full-time firefighters.
Teising told 13News that she plans to attend the meeting in some manner.
Teising's indictment is on 20 felony theft charges. She is accused of not living in the township between June 17, 2020 and March 23, 2021 while collecting more than $20,000 in paychecks from the township. The indictment was filed on May 12 and Teising has refused to stepdown from her position as trustee. Teising’s trial is preliminarily set for July 29..