VIDEO: After Vienna Fire Department lost all its full and part-time staff to the townshipโs fiscal emergency, a donation has allowed them to begin hiring even sooner. The Cafaro Foundation donated $250,000 to help Vienna Township with its first responders, allowing the fire department to pay its personnel once again. Currently, the department has 11 part-time staff, plus other volunteers.
โWe were going to have to wait until next year when the new tax dollars start coming in,โ said Fire Chief Gus Birch. โBut with their donation, their generosity, we were able to start it as of noon yesterday.โ With the money, Chief Birch hopes to hire enough part-time staff so he can have two people in the station 24/7. The fiscal emergency was a blow to the department. Chief Birch came out of retirement to help rebuild. A levy that passed in May will generate $480,000 a year for the department, but the donation kick-started the program again.
