SOMERSET, Texas – The Jarret volunteer fire department was initially suspended on Sept. 18 and will remain suspended until further notice.
"You work yourself to death and to not have a place and not be appreciated that is wrong,” firefighter supporter Cathy Stille said.
Bexar County Emergency Services District 5 cited financial instability and money owed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the suspension at a community meeting held Friday night.
"I think it came down to just a financial issue because it is taxpayer funds that of course the ESD uses to support the community and they didn't feel like at this time it was in their interest to support a station that has financial instability issues, " the ESD's lawyer Robert Wilson said.
The new fire station was at the heart of the discussion. The station was built with a loan from the USDA. Wilson says it has not been occupied in two years.
"There's a $56,000 annual payment that's required to be made by the Jarret Volunteer Fire Department. They did not meet that obligation," Wilson said.
Art Martinez De Vara the Firefighters lawyer says that wasn't the original agreement though.
"The original agreement for payment on the station was roughly a third contribution. A third from the city of Von Ormy, a third from the Emergency Services District and a third from the Volunteer Fire Department," De Vara said.
With the help of it supporters, firefighters were able to raise $20,000 but it wasn't enough to make the whole payment.
The firefighters will remain suspended. An appeal could be made, but that would be up to the ESD.