Borough leaders in Hollidaysburg have voted to release funds to the Phoenix Fire Company for a fire truck and insurance payment. The vote came during yesterday’s council meeting amid ongoing concerns surrounding the fire department’s finances that have arisen after former firefighter Benjamin Rhine and former Chief Anthony Dibona pleaded guilty to embezzling grant money provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Allegheny Mountain Firefighters Initiative. The money however, will not go to the fire company itself… it will be paid directly to the bank that is financing the truck and for insurance to assure that it goes where it is intended to go. Borough leaders said if they chose not to pay for the truck and insurance, they would be punishing the fire company for the wrongdoings of several of it’s former members.
