The city of Bentley no longer has firefighters stationed within city limits. The fire chief, and the rest of the volunteer fire department resigned Thursday at the city council meeting.
Bentley Fire Chief Donnie Bean, Jr. says the department has been working on a dwindling budget. In a statement, Bean said the 2016 budget was set at $35,000, which was cut to about $29,000 a few months ago. Bean says there had been talk about more cuts for 2017, even mentioning the department have no budget.
Bean says the department does have a need for a budget. Three members had been sharing the same set of gear, because it was the only set that fit them. He says he’s also heard discussion from the city about removing insurance for firefighters to save money.
The town’s mayor says Bentley’s budget problems stem from a 2007 $1.4 million federal loan for real estate development that the town’s been struggling to pay back. He says Bentley couldn’t afford what the fire department wanted.
“Financially, there’s no possible way,” Mayor Rex Satterthwaite said. “I don’t blame them at all, but that’s like major league trying to be in Wichita, we can only afford single A.”
Bean says he never asked the department to resign, it was a decision by the members of the fire department. He cites budget and safety issues as the reason for his resignation.
This doesn’t mean the city is without emergency services. For now, the Sedgwick County station in Maize will respond to all of Bentley’s emergency calls. The county is helping Bentley build another volunteer fire department.
“Sedgwick County is going to be involved to grow it from the beginning,” Mayor Satterthwaite said. “Where we’re the kind of fire department that we can afford, that can still bring the protection to this town that they need.”
The mayor said Bentley will also meet with other small town volunteer fire departments to figure out how to most effectively spend their money.