FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — The local government body that oversees fire protection in the unincorporated parts of New Albany Township voted unanimously Thursday night to end its contract with New Chapel Fire. Jamey Noel, the former Clark County Sheriff who is facing 25 felonies, ran the organization and others with similar names for 20 years.
The New Albany Township Fire Protection District Board of Fire Trustees said it had legal standing to end the 10-year contract more than two years early.
"We had a house fire in our fire district. There was a fire truck that responded with just the driver. You can't operate that way," Darrell Mills said, president of the board. "They went by themselves because it was the only firefighter on duty. That happened more than once. Sometimes there would be zero firefighters at the house."
Mills said for the last few months they have been reviewing call logs and run logs within the department after questions started to arise about New Chapel Fire and its related organizations New Chapel EMS, and Utica Township Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts released an audit of UTVFA and New Chapel EMS on April 29, confirming much of what has been in Indiana State Police search warrants. The audit said Noel and his family spent $3.1 million of department funds on personal items like travel, alcohol, Amazon and PayPal purchases, trips to Cincinnati Reds games and more.
"We're not saying everyone at New Chapel Fire Department was doing wrong," Mills said. "But it's pretty obvious the administration wasn't complying with us."
Current Chief of New Chapel Fire/EMS and UTVFA Matt Owen did not respond to WHAS11's request for comment Friday. Owen had previously said that they were aware firefighters were driving ambulances and potentially leaving the department vulnerable under Noel, but he said they were trying to address it.
Owen said the solution was requiring a heavy amount of overtime.
In February, FOCUS found Mills and his board were not asking New Chapel Fire for financial documents or approving their budget as the contract required. Mills pledged to stay on-board and help fix the situation.
"We was getting somewhat the bang for our buck, but when that doesn't happen, then it's obviously time to take a look. And we want to give the taxpayers what they got coming," Mills said in February.
Mills said the new plan is to open "New Albany Township Fire Rescue" within the next 30 days. He said in the meantime, they will rely on memorandums of understanding with nearby departments.
He believed they will need 12-14 firefighters for the department. Two firehouses and all the fire equipment belong to the fire district.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.