Patriot Fire Dept. Stopped Making Runs In 2016, But Former Chief Was Allegedly Stealing Before Then

Gordon Wayne Turner Jr. stole in excess of $28,000 from the fire department’s bank accounts to pay personal bills.

Gordon Wayne Turner, Jr. Photo by Switzerland County Sheriff's Office.

(Patriot, Ind.) - The money stolen from the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department by its former chief may be well beyond the $14,080 reflected in court documents.

On top of that, the department is not allowed to respond to fire calls.

It is a story Eagle Country 99.3 broke on Tuesday.

Fire chief and former Patriot Town Board member Gordon Wayne Turner, Jr. was arrested last week after being charged with four counts of Theft and four counts of Official Misconduct, all felonies. He was arrested and jailed in Switzerland County.

Indiana State Police, which helped investigate the theft of funds, say Turner stole in excess of $28,000 from the fire department’s bank accounts to pay his household’s bills and other personal gain. The alleged thefts took place between 2014 and 2018, when he was chief of the department.

The police investigation came on the heels of an Indiana State Board of Accounts review of the volunteer department’s finances. That report says Turner’s malfeasance totaled $58,272.77 for funds expended for non-fire department use, unauthorized payments to the chief, and payments to individuals without supporting documentation.

In addition, the SBOA’s special investigative costs to Hoosier taxpayers was $18,361.59.

The SBOA’s report dated February 25 (PDF) states “The Fire Department is no longer certified to make fire runs. The certifications lapsed and were not renewed. Likewise, there is no liability insurance to cover the volunteer firefighters to allow them to go on fire runs.”

The certifications were not renewed when Turner essentially shut down the department in 2017 amid struggles to find volunteers.

According to Town of Patriot Clerk-Treasurer Linda Fisk, the Patriot Fire Department only responds to calls within the town limits – an area only covering about one-quarter of a square mile. In the tiny town with a little over 200 residents, the department responded to just 10 incidents between 2013 and 2016, according to data provided by Switzerland County Communications.

The department hasn't responded to a single incident in 2017, 2018, or 2019.

As staffing issues at the local department became non-existent, the Town of Patriot made the move in 2017 to begin contracting with the nearby Posey Township Fire Department for the town’s fire coverage, Fisk says. The contract is on a month-to-month basis.

“We are covered,” she says.

Although the fire department had stopped making runs, it never officially shut down under Turner. It was town officials who asked the State Board of Accounts to investigate the department's finances last year.

Chris See, chief of the Jeff-Craig Fire Department in Vevay, has long believed the department in Patriot should be disbanded.

“I have asked those questions for several years. They have not had a structure fire in that jurisdiction for four or five years,” says See.

A phone number listed for the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department has been disconnected.

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