Lakeville Fire Department back in service after insurance issue

LAKEVILLE, Ind. (WNDU) - The Lakeville Fire Department is back in operation after being out of service for over a month due to an insurance issue.

Tony Reeves, the new administrative chief for the Lakeville Fire Department, confirmed with 16 News Now that firefighters went back to work Wednesday night.

As you may recall, 16 News Now first reported back in mid-April that the department was not responding to calls and instead had the Southwest Central Fire Territory handling any fire emergencies in the town. That was because the legal entity Lakeville Fire was contracted with never paid taxes, leaving the department without proper insurance.

At the fire territory board meeting last week, Reeves was approved as the new administrative fire chief and volunteers who wanted to return as firefighters were asked to sign employment agreements.

This allows Union Township to contract the firefighters individually instead of going through another entity.

Lakeville is still a volunteer fire department, but firefighters will get paid an allotment for equipment and a small stipend for time they put into calls for service.

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