ONE LESS HOUSE SIREN IN SELIGMAN, ARIZONA, this week. Frederick Cross, aka: Donna Clark, the self-appointed fire chief of the one-weirdo Bridge Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, has packed his trunks and left town. Uncle Charlie quit his janitor’s job at the general store and apparently left with him.

The struggling FD known for having the world’s largest engine bay – as big as the whole outdoors – is no more.

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Freddie sold off most of his vehicles. The local scrap dealer got the water tanker at a great price. The 1964 Boardman pumper is currently up for sale on eBay. Scroll down to the next posting for the complete details of this great offer. He hasn’t come up for trial yet, so we don’t know if he’s gone on the lam, or just liquidating his ill-gotten assets before an expected trip up to the Big House in Phoenix.

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Attention newer readers: If you’re not up to speed on who funny Freddie is, go over to the Categories list on the right sidebar and click on “Donna.” Scroll back the to bottom of page 2 and then read forward. It’s worth the trip, believe me.

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Have You Seen This Man?
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He’s usually dressed in women’s clothing and likes to talk Fire Department talk. Lately he’s been seen riding on the passenger’s side of the camper because the Sheriff took away his phony driver’s license. Wherever he pops up he will likely be peddling off some FD hand tools, equipment or running gear that he’s scammed off of some unwitting donors.

His full name is Frederick Renan Cross. D.O.B. Aug. 10, 1966.

He often uses a different name, perhaps because of his criminal past, and most recently went under the alias of Donna Clark.

Other aliases he has used are: Donna White; Donna Dorothy Clark; Donna R. Clark; Don Clark; M. Mann; Michelle Denise; Donna Fredericks; Meg Young, Attorney.

If you see him/her, or hear of any activities that suggest his presence, please let Firegeezer know right away.

Now scroll down to the next posting and see how you can get a piece of fire department history for your very own by purchasing the infamous BCVFD pumper.

YES, AS PART OF THE BCVFD LIQUIDATION, Fire Chief Donna has his/her 1967 Boardman pumper up for sale on eBay (HERE).

Now you can own a piece of history for only $3,500 (or more).

Donna may be gone from town, but his accomplice is handling the sale of his favorite pumper.

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The seller’s nom de plume is Javidad1 with a “12″ feedback rating.  If you look up his feedbacks you will find that most of them are from only two people who are both no longer registered with eBay.

The closing date of this sale is tomorrow, Wednesday May 28, shortly after 10 pm Pacific time.

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The vehicle description is really pushing the limits of credibility here.  They are saying that the vehicle is in “excellent” condition and that “everything such as hoses ….. are in mint condition.”  It’s going to be hard to prove that fire hose that has been sitting outside for years in the desert sun is in mint condition.  Not mentioned is if the dozen sets of new running gear that he conned out of a donor is included.

If you have any questions, they give you a phone number:  (928) 699-8185 where you can ask “Bud.”  For example, you might want to know when the pump had its last test and certification.  Or what the pump capacity is and how much water the booster tank holds.  Give Bud a call and let us know these answers.  Inquiring minds want to know.  The phone number is listed to a cell phone that was issued in Flagstaff, Arizona.

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If you’re the winning bidder, you need to send your 10% deposit to damkrtchyan@yahoo.com.  Full payment is required in 7 days and you have to pick up the pumper.  It’s location is never disclosed other than it is somewhere in Arizona.  But at the top of the listing, the item is registered as being located in Glendale, California.  Ever the con man.

Maybe Bud can tell you where it is when you call for information.

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Make sure you scroll down to the thumbnails and view the nine photos that they have put up for our informative amusement.

For instance:  Look at this!
Have you ever seen a firetruck with a necker’s knob on the steering wheel?
“We don’t need no two hands to drive a fire engine”

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Just CLICK HERE to visit the eBay selling page.  Remember, the auction closes Wednesday night shortly after 10 pm Pacific time.

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous posts are archived in the “Donna” category. 

THE HOLIDAY HIATUS IS OVER and our Donna reports resume.  Today we will look at the fantasy fire department’s firehouse.

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This lead paragraph from the BCVFD recruiting poster that was delivered around the neighborhood invites prospective volunteers to “come to a training meeting” at the firehouse.

What kind of a firehouse does a make-believe fire department with no firefighters have?  Well, more or less, this is it:

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It’s mostly used for storage.  However, it looks like they might have a day room in there with that satellite tv dish.  That will encourage the volunteers to hang around some more, especially on Super Bowl Sunday.

Here’s a view of the rear apron:

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You can get a view of that nice antenna tower that some well-meaning, but naive, person donated to the BCVFD.

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As we have noted previously, the engine bay is sumptuous and has plenty of room for additional apparatus.

We have not yet been able to determine where the hose washing takes place, though.

 The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous posts are archived in the “Donna” category.

 THE YAVAPAI COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY has just released the disposition of Frederick Cross’ (aka Donna Clark) hearing on November 15th.  The charges relating to the fictitious license plate, improper registration and no mandatory insurance were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea for disorderly conduct and disturbing a meeting. 

There was no mention of the invalid driver’s license, but we can presume it was set aside in lieu of the sheriff’s further investigation and subsequent warrant for felony forgery that was delivered the next day.

As we pointed out HERE, he had his problems with the insurance and registration straightened out by the hearing date.  Considering the upcoming felony charges along with the compliance, this appears to be a tolerable outcome.  With the disorderly conduct conviction he will be unable to resume his harassment activities without incurring heavier penalties.

Next up will be the pre-trial hearing on the four felonies (reported HERE) which should be sometime in the Spring.  It is also noted that the Arizona state crime laboratory still has possession of his computer.

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While Donna was on his romp through the internet forums begging for donations, he was constantly berating the locals for not contributing to his phantom fire department.  His descriptions of his neighbors were not kind:

I started this company out of my OWN pocket.I spent my entire enheritance* on THOUGHTS of the Community at least helping on something they literally begged me to do…and FYI…I spent OVER 350,000 dollars on this Company…and I continue to work for a living to keep it on its feet…and NOT for me…BUT FOR THEM!
When I first did this…I had ALL the promises in the world of them helping with funding as well as volunteering and to this day have seen absolutely NONE of what they promised despite what I did or tried to do to GET funding.
* We believe that his father is still living.

(The Seligman FD) do not respond to our area due to the fact that the community is “doghouses”

I have major problems with people that outright lie to me and making promises that never come through.I mean,I can deal with maybe a handful out of the community being asses and not doing what they promised …BUT…the whole freakin community…as a whole???

The community im (living in) is a very “low class society” in which i do not feel comfortable in anymore.

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This is the permanent residence of
Frederick Cross and his uncle Charles Clark
 

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous posts are archived in the “Donna” category.

When Frederick was first arrested in February for driving his fire truck without insurance or registration and disrupting the peace, he was pressed to identify himself properly.  When the deputy ran the driver’s license against the Social Security number through the state computer, it came back as a “no such person.”

Then Frederick said his name was Donna White instead of Donna Clark.  It all started falling apart then.  Frederick later produced for the deputy a birth certificate showing the name of Donna Clark.  Keeping posession of the birth certificate, the Sheriff’s office then began to look under the stones of the Bridge Canyon VFD.

Through the summer while awaiting the first trial (hearing), they continued to research what they could of Frederick’s activities and came up with enough evidence of criminal activity to bring new charges.  By then they had determined that the birth certificate was a forgery.

On November 16, the day after Frederick was released from the first set of misdemeanors, the Sheriff went to the court and obtained  search warrants for the Clark residence.  The warrant also included their personal computer.  On that same day the warrant was served, the computer was seized and Frederick Renan Cross III was arrested on four felony counts of forgery and fraud with further charges pending.

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He remained in jail until Nov. 21 when he made his bail and returned home to the old camping trailer.  Since then he has not been driving at all and keeping pretty much inside to himself.  The harassments have ceased and the Seligman FD has run its calls without having to look over their shoulders.

Note:  After today, the Daily Donna will become the Weekly Donna.  We have given you a fair example of Frederick Cross’ fraudulent activities and exposed his foolishness while posing as a “Fire Chief.”  We have much more information and there is still plenty more to come.  But it can be best served up on a weekly basis from now on, usually on Fridays.

Thank you for traveling with us down this path to the bizarre world of the magic fire engine with the ghost firefighters.

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The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous articles are archived in the Donna category.

Fred was in a spot now.  For the first time, the deputies and the community found out his true identity.  On top of that, he couldn’t drive his fire truck anymore until he corrected these violations.

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His pretrial hearing was set for May 23, so he had to get into gear.  First he had his “fire department” incorporated and filed with the State Corporation Commission.

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Next he needed license plates.  In the strange legal procedures of Arizona, all he had to do was show his corporation papers and the DMV just took him at his word and mailed him a license plate for his rusty fire engine.

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Then he had to get insurance.  It became effective on May 22, the day before his hearing. 

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We don’t know where he got the money from, but a million-dollar liability policy doesn’t come too cheap.

When he eventually went to the final hearing on November 15, he only had to answer to the disorderly conduct and the invalid license charges.  We haven’t yet found out what his penalty was, but he was able to return home on the 15th.

But the next day, November 16, the hammer fell.  Tomorrow we will cover the activities of the following week and the sudden turn in Donna’s dreams.

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous articles are archived in the Donna category.

Things were getting desperate at the Bridge Canyon VFD.  Fred’s sloppy attempts to profit by buying and selling at eBay led to his banishment from the business.  His ridiculous tirades and bravado on the fire forums exposed him as a fraud and the only responses he could get from his pathetic calls for more and more donations were ridicule.

By now Donna was feeling boxed in.  He had orginally planned to set up his own private fire department and earn a meagre living from the subscriptions and charges that would come rolling in.  After spending more than three years accumulating his rag-tag equipment he was shunned by his community and ignored by the authorities who were in charge of dispatching county emergencies.

His behavior became more bizarre.  In 2006 he began a harassment campaign against the members of the Seligman FD.  Whenever they would respond on a fire call, he would follow along in his rusty fire truck and do everything he could to disrupt the firefighters while they were doing their duty.

But he was always just a hair inside of legal behavior.  He wouldn’t get physical or make threats….just noise and later follow it up with wild posters and letters to the citizens of the outlying community.  Perhaps he blamed the SFD for his failures, in his twisted logic.

In February 2007 he slipped over that line.  While the SFD members were outside on the dept. parking lot holding a drill, Donna came over in his fire truck and started driving around the firehouse, blowing his horn and shouting threats to the FF’s.  The harassment breached the peace and they called the sheriff.  It should be noted here that by now the deputies had had it up to their ears with this nusiance, too.

When the deputy arrived Fred was still there with his truck.  After finding out what all was going on, the deputy charged him with four misdemeanor violations.  But there was more to come.  Fred was still holding himself out as Donna Clark and presented his driver’s license under that name.

Through normal checking, the deputy soon learned that Donna wasn’t Donna and the she wasn’t a she.  A fifth charge was then added for using a bogus license. 

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 Fred didn’t realize it at the time, but his later presentation of a forged birth certificate would lead to his downfall.

Tomorrow we’ll see how he stayed out of jail from this first arrest only to see his problems escalate further.

Donna’s days at eBay started getting contentious.  He had this strange opinion that he could arbitrarily change the rules of the company to fit his terms at any time.  Basically, it was a method to get out from paying for the things he successfully bid on.

Due to some recent events that have taken place by various Sellers on Ebay,Our Funding Board has now proposed and approved a new “buying/bidding” plan for us to go into effect immediately. From now on when we bid and win an Item,we DO NOT make ANY types of payments until we have recieved the item beforehand.

*  *  *  *  *i will make this statement ONE FINAL TIME…our policies ARE NOT AGAINST Ebay policies…WE HAVE THE RIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE TO RETAIN THE RIGHT TO OUR POLICY AS LONG AS WE ARE THE BUYERS!

*  *  *  *  *and…im NOT A “he”…TYVM

The heat was on.  Donna was getting hammered  for not paying and his habit of continually saying stupid things on the forums.  He got to the point where everything he said was couched in a threat to sue whoever was talking about him.

He posted a lengthy rant on the eBay forum about this.  The following are selected excerpts:

Due to some recent events that have been taking place on another website,notifiably some Members on Ebay.com, we have been advised by our Attorneys to relocate our site for security measures until the problems are promptly rectified…

Certain individuals from the Ebay,Inc website,that has obtrusively gathered our private information, without our written consent and without proof or sufficient or supporting evidence,has graciously published our private information as well as slanderous and propostorous information(aka hearsay) on various other websites,thus slandering our Department name.These individuals have made up lies and gossip and has broken just about every Privacy Policy written in lawbooks as well as Ebay,Inc Privacy Policies and we are now in the process of rectifying the situation,and any and all individuals involved, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Since Ebay,Inc is partially at fault by allowing this to happen and seems to be ignoring our many reports to them to rectify this situation,they may too be held liable in a Court of Law.

We have spoken to the President of Ebay,Inc in hopes he will make the decision on some Ebay Policy changes as well as dealing with people on thier site appropriately. (editor’s note:  The president of eBay is a woman, not a “he.”  But maybe Donna thinks everybody dresses differently.)

Since this incident happened,we have reported several individuals that have been involved in this,to a Governmental Internet Crimes Division with possible pending charges on the individuals.As more of these individuals “surface”, they too will be added to our report list

It was not long after this that Donna, aka July 36, aka femfirechief, aka July 362 was permanently expelled from doing any business on eBay.

Tomorrow the law starts to catch up with ”Donna.”
 

When last we read Donna’s words of wisdom, he was listing all his experiences (including non-response museum departments) and scholarly achievements.

He dropped those onto the folks at the eBay Sellers forum, too.  We’re talking about some web-savvy people here.  So when Donna says:  My Department Memberships in the past includes The City of Hagerstown,Maryland,The City Of Chambersburg,Maryland,The City of Cumberland,Maryland as well as many other smaller volunteer Departments throughout the East and West Coast.

It was only a matter of hours until everybody had learned that nobody had ever heard of him at Cumberland or the all-paid Hagerstown FD.  They also checked many of the surrounding VFD’s with the same result.  Of course, there’s no such place as Chambersburg, Maryland.  It’s always been in Pennsylvania.

Eventually, Donna’s silliness earned him the eBay nickname of “Fire Liar.”  One of the enterprising eBayers even designed a department patch for him:

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Meanwhile, back at the fire forums Donna was still dispensing wisdom.  This time the subject was helmets.  (by then, all those firefighters were onto his/her game)  At first the thread was talking about the best way to re-paint a helmet.

One CRITICAL thing Id like to add about painting fire helmets…or ANY helmets for that matter is this….even though some people have no choice but to repaint thier helmets,it is STRONGLY advisable not to do this…simply because MOST paint products are highly combustible and NON fire-retardant.If you must paint your helmet then after you paint it,be sure to spray it done really thorough with a fire retardant…otherwise.
(next day)
ok….so paint your helmets then…just dont expect me to paint mine or none of my guys on my Dept.
I was always taught from way back when NEVER to paint helmets with storebought paints…especially areosols.
other ff’s response: I will keep an open mind here, however I have just one small request. Lead me to an article where JUST ONCE a helmet erupted into flames because it was recently repainted and I will stop thinking you are nuts. 

Im not here to argue over something as simple as this…I do not go by what may be in articles..but what I have seen during my experiences but as I stated before I will NEVER paint my helmets or my guys will NEVER paint thier helmets as we will buy new first.
I wasnt put into the Chief position for nothing so i must be doing something right so think as you may.

And then the thread began to wander a little bit:

I didnt realize that.I just thought the factory wouldve special treated those before putting them in service(the leather ones I mean).Mine is the leather traditional “New Yorker and painted white but all I do is scrub off the soot and stuff but I guess if I ever need to repaint it..then I will. Also I have an idea regarding helmets…and this is in regards to the black rubber bands for helmets.You can make those(instead of having to buy them) out of peices of bicycle intertubes..and they work very well and stand up to heat since thier actually made of a neoprene combination.We outfitted all of our helmets that way.

response: I think you meant to say truck innnertubes. I can’t see anyone gettin’ a bike tube around a helmet, and even if it was cut lengthwise, well, then you would have to tie it. Unless you have a really, really, large mellon.

Donna: what we did was cut the bike tubes lengthwise…then stapled the ends together but yes..I never thought of the ones from trucks.

You can’t make this stuff up, Folks.  Check back tomorrow when Donna gets into the pits with the eBayers.

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous articles are archived in the Donna category.

We Are Because I Say We Are

Throughout the forum threads, Donna continues to dispense handy tips and profound wisdom:

I carry and use a compass…i carry it in my truck and use it for my IC situations and “placing” my men on scenes(ie,E2 west wall,R4 north wall,etc)and for alot of fireground coordinances and mapping.They come in very handy for that as long as you are not near the actual flames. ….. theres some that know thier east from thier west and thier north from thier south…just by the “feeling”.Mainly I use it for my own coordinances but if its not a major incident(in our eyes) then i just walk around and point to where i want them.

It was about this point that he was not being taken very seriously anymore.  In fact, open ridicule is more descriptive of what was going on, putting him on the defensive:

And my “grammar”..is just the way I speak…ever heard of an ACCENT????

Not like that one, no.

Right about this time Frederick discovered the joys of eBay selling and buying.  But the buying part was a slow learn for him because he didn’t want to actually pay for the things he bid on.  But he was skilled at the game of misrepresentation.  He posted this photograph of what he purported to be his valiant firefighters at the Bridge Canyon VFD:

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He pointed out that he is the petite woman seen in the center of the front row.  A happy bunch of well-equipped firefighters, right?

Maybe so, but they’re not from Seligman.  In a small town of 500 there’s no such thing as somebody who isn’t known.  Several people in Seligman have studied this picture carefully and they all agree that none of those people have ever been residents of the community.  Further, the photo was taken inside a block building as you can see.  There are only three block buildings in Seligman and this is definitely not one of them.

But he’s just getting going with his eBay snow job.  He also posted his credentials as a super-firewoman:

Department Chief: Donna *****
Fire Service Experience: 17 years
Years of Service in Present Department: 6

My Fire Service Career began in my teens during High School as a Junior Member in an all Volunteer Department in the State of West Virginia.
After a few years on that Department(during my training years),I progressed on to Bigger and Paid Departments.I moved from Company to Company throughout my Career for the sole purpose of learning the Fire Department Management Techniques as well as learning the operational ways and ideas of other Departments.I have even been a member of “museum type” non-response Departments for further learning as well.Today,throughout all of my experiences with different Departments,I was able to make it to Chief of this Department.
My Department Memberships in the past includes The City of Hagerstown,Maryland,The City Of Chambersburg,Maryland,The City of Cumberland,Maryland as well as many other smaller volunteer Departments throughout the East and West Coast.My sole Training came from The State of Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute in College Park,Maryland and my training has included,Firefighting 1,2 and 3,Trench Rescue,Automobile Extrications,IC Operations,Fireground Operations,and many others including several Medical oriented Traning Courses.I Have a Degree in the Fire Sciences as well. 

Now he has made some verifiable claims.  We’ll look at those tomorrow.

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous articles are archived in the Donna category.

Our Fireghters – Me, Myself and I

In order to give credence to the magic fire department and appear genuine to potential donors, Donna was constantly posturing on fire forums and eBay forums as the mighty and wise leader of a dedicated band of volunteers.

However, as we said at the beginning of this series, Donna and his partner Charles are the only two people who have ever been associated with the BCVFD.

On a forum thread about designing forms for logging equipment issued to members, Donna stated:

Actually for our firefighters,we have no forms other than one that they sign saying that they were issued the equipment.This form has the information of the firefighter as well as the information of the equipment we are issuing(similiar to our release form but without all the legalities).We do this simply because should a firefighter move away…and our equipment happens to go with him or her…then we have all the info we may need in attempting to retrieve the equipment.We started doing this becuase of an incident that happened awhile back before we “logged” any of the equipment issued.
One of our firefighters took off with all of the company issued stuff..including the radio,and there was no way we could retrieve any of it becuase we had no “proof”,even though we knew it was our “issued stuff”…so we decided to start “logging” everything simply because we cannot afford the replacements.

They are also fully staffed and equipped for wildfire events, too:

Being “red-carded” usually is only required for US and State forest lands BUT if you have structures that are threatened but are adjacent to forestry properties,red carding is usually not required but IS strongly encouraged.
If you guys want red-carded,you can find out the info thru your state forester.Red-carding is basically 32 hours of wildland fire training.
Also another thought,should you guys get called on a wildland fire,MOST state and US foresters no longer allow you to wear structural turnouts.You must have the wildland certified type including steel toed boots and hard hats with faceshields or goggles.Our MA company responded on a wildland fire last summer here and they was thrown off by the US forestry for not having the proper turnouts used for wildland firefighting.
What we do in that case is carry a certain amount of wildland turnouts on the trucks just in case even tho we are also contracted with the US forestry.

So now the ”trucks” are carrying “a certain amount of wildland turnouts” along with at least two cases of bottled water (frozen) and the case of Squenchers packets.  What more will be added to the compartments?

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They’re also ready for any contingency when it comes to connecting to the hose lines of “mutual aid companies:”

We have no plans on switching to Storz simply because most companies in small towns and rural/urban interface areas still rely on threaded connections and heres why…#1 is because of budgeting and #2 is because of other nearby companies that may still have threaded connections.My best suggestions would either to carry threaded to storz adapters on the apparatus or to obtain some “quick connectors” which can be obtained either through W.S.Darley or Heiman Fire Equipment.These type of connectors work similiar to a Storz but used for threaded connections.They are made with threaded 2 1/2″ NST or NPT male or female on one end and at the other is a special type of connector that works with any type of thread with just a simple push,twist 1/4 turn to lock.We use these on our apparatus discharges and carry a few spares simply becuase our Mutual Aid companies may use a different thread than ours and if a mutual aid response was ever required then we wouldnt be standing around wondering how to make connections to each other trucks. LOL

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You didn’t know about their mutual aid agreements out there in the high country?  Why, sure:

We also have an Automatic Aid Agreement with Seligman Fire District and we are an Independent.How we work the double dispatching is by sharing frequencies…meaning we monitor each others frequencies as well as our own.So far weve had no probs on this.Also sometimes the County may dispatch one immediately following the other in extreme cases which has also worked.As far as repeaters are concerned,we own our own repeater system here at the station but all we do when we share frequencies is just switch over.We switch to thier frequncy and they switch on ours.

Unfortunately, along the way nobody told the Seligman FD about this handy arrangement.

Tomorrow we’ll absorb some more of his wisdom and get to see some of the “members.”

The continuing saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.  All previous articles are archived in the Donna category.

Are We A Fire Department Yet?

Frederick Cross (aka Donna Clark) and Charles Clark set about to assemble a “fire department” by purchasing some old trucks and painting their chosen name “Bridge Canyon Volunteer Fire Department” on them.  After a fashion they put together a fleet comprising of a 1970 Chevrolet/Boardman pumper, a 1950 Chevrolet brush truck, a 1974 Chevrolet utility vehicle, and a 1964 tanker.

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The outdoor engine bay provides plenty of room for apparatus

They continued to hound around the fire forums begging for donations in the manner that we showed you with yesterday’s example.  And in order to add credence to his “expertise” as a “fire chief with 17 yrs. experience” Frederick would offer up wise advice such as this posting on a forum thread comparing different types of sport drinks:

We carry both powdered Gatorade and Squenchers.We prefer Squenchers alot better simply because they are set up in individual packets and all thats needed is to add water….and the cup is the packet itself.  Also we carry plain bottled water.

We get our Squenchers donated by the railroad here.We know the local “RailMaster” here so he has set us up since the railroad runs thru here.That is also where we get our bottled water from.They both come in cases.Just by luck,this town is a railroad town so ALOT of railroaders live here. 

They also keep us stocked in Nutrition bars for on the trucks.
They stock up thier local workers first and then we get the overstock.
To the guy that mentioned something about “not wanting to deprive the firefighters of thier fluid intakes”…these individual packets are not meant for this purpose as we allow each firefighter to use as much as they need regardless of how many packets they may use.We only do this becuase we dont carry coolers on board the trucks due to the little amount of calls we get.We just keep water stocked in a freezer by cases and before we roll out we just grab a case or 2 to take with us…by the time we arrive on scene and with the heat in Arizona…the water thaws rather quickly but will stay cold throughout a call.

He never says whether they run to the freezer and grab those cases of frozen water before or after they put on their boots.

But soon his appeals for donations began failing to produce results:

Why is it soooo hard getting anything donated in this state???
Is it becuase the Companies of today just dont care anymore???
Or maybe…there is no such thing as “brotherhood” anymore??

Donna C
Fire Chief
Bridge Canyon VFD

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To Run Calls, You Have To Be Dispatched

In Yavapai County there is a first-level 9-1-1 system for phoning in an emergency.  When you call you are usually answered by the dispatch center in Prescott, 75 miles away.  Occasionally it will ringover to the center in Phoenix, but the protocol is the same.  The dispatcher then tones out the Seligman Fire Dept. via a low-band channel and gives a verbal dispatch.  Seligman FD will then respond according to the state regulations that we discussed yesterday.

If the call is for a medical emergency, the dispatch will go to the private ambulance firm that services the area, LifeLine Ambulance in Prescott.  Their nearest ambulance station to Seligman is in Williams, a 45 minute drive away.  LifeLine will also call the SFD to respond for primary EMT care until the ambulance arrives.

Frederick tried to get the county to dispatch him on the fire calls outside the SFD fire protection district boundaries, but so far he has failed to convince them that he has a real fire department (maybe because he doesn’t…ed.).  So what he resorted to was monitoring the dispatch frequency and also running the calls that SFD was sent to in the unprotected territory.  Most of these are for wildfire calls for the Arizona Land Agency.  This led to some confrontations on the fire scene and a lot of harrassment by Frederick and his 12 imaginary firefighters.  And that led to his first arrest.  We will talk about that another day.

As another way of seeking fame, action (and cash payments) he also tried to convince LifeLine to call him instead of SFD for medical assist calls in Bridge Canyon Estates:

Hello,
Please add our Department to your list of contacts in certain areas.
We are the private service provider of Bridge Canyon Estates. Please add Bridge Canyon Vol. Fire Department to your response records.
Our phone number is: 928-422-4333 and our initial field frequency is 154.145. We also can be reached on the statewide mutual aid channel (154.280)while we are on call as well as off-call as we monitor this channel.
We do not have EMT’s but we do offer first response(first aid) until an ambulance arrives onscene and our response personnell does have prior EMT related experience and training.
Seligman Fire District has been voted out of responding in the subdevelopment no matter what thier Chief specifies. If there is a medical call within the Bridge Canyon Estates legal boundaries then we will be your contact if we are called upon by the citizen to respond.
For more information, please visit our website at: http://bridgecanyonfire.XXXXXXXXX
Thank You,
Bridge Canyon Volunteer Fire Department
 

Hello,
Apparently you did not recieve our previous messages about adding us to your records when calling fire dept for medical call/mutal aid in and around Bridge Canyon Estates outside of Seligman. You are still dispatching Seligman FD into our area.
If Seligman FD continues responding in our area as per you calling them for mutual aid then we will promptly remove them from the scene and you will not recieve your emergency response payments from the residents in our area that you respond to. If you do not want to call us for mutual aid in medical calls then please do not call Seligman FD either.
This is according to what the residents in our response area want.
Again, our dispatching number is 928-422-4333 or you may contact us by cellphone.
We do not currently have EMT’s but we CAN monitor the patient or handle immediate first aid until the ambulance crew arrives.
Thank You for updating your records promptly,
Bridge Canyon Vol. Fire Dept,Inc
Bridge Canyon Estates
ACC Filing No: 13456550 FEIN No: 26-067299
POB 54 / 208 W Railroad Ave. Seligman AZ 86337-0054
928-422-4333 (Cell 1): 928-273-5988 (Cell 2): 928-273-8827

LifeLine didn’t buy into the program either.  So Frederick is trying the direct approach.  Recently, he has been posting signs around Black Canyon Estates advising people to phone him directly when they have an emergency and skip the 9-1-1 system altogether.

Note:  On October 1, 2007, the Seligman FD entered into an official operating agreement with the Sheriff’s office (operator of the 9-1-1 dispatch center) that all 9-1-1 calls in the Seligman area will be transferred or dispatched to the SFD.

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Tomorrow we will talk about his claims of past experience and the membership of the BCVFD.

Firegeezer notes:  Yesterday I neglected to post the Seligman FD website link until later that evening.  If you missed it, it is HERE.

Also, in the recent past some people have posted the URL for the Bridge Canyon VFD website.  I am not going to do that because when I last went to it my anti-virus program went into a high-speed tap dance while the site was trying to download a malware program and a bunch of other garbage.  Anything on there that is worth exploring I’ll try and tell you about or transfer screen caps.

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How To Start Your Own Fire Dept. in Arizona

Out in the vast spaces of the western states where some counties are larger than many of the eastern states, there is still a gap in the laws governing the territory when it comes to fire departments.  The state of Arizona does not have any requirements that need to be met concerning organized fire protection with the exception of wildfire control and the state OSHA offices.

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Yavapai County, in turn, has chosen to stay out of the fire protection needs altogether.  They are not required to provide any fire protection anywhere in the county, and they elect to keep it that way.  Communities, however, can establish their own legal Fire Protection District and collect a property tax to pay for it.  But these fire protection districts are delineated by specific boundaries.  Anybody who is outside the boundary and calls the fire department will be charged a state-mandated fee for the service.  Such fees as well as the real estate tax go directly to the state.

These fees are eventually returned to the fire department in the way of payments for responding to state-owned property, such as a school, or by responding to a wildfire.  Most of the Seligman FD’s income is from these state payments since there are a large number of lightning-generated brush fires in the area.  Go to the Seligman FD website and click on the Fire Coverage Areas link (HERE) to get a more complete description of how the tax and subscription service works out there.

Knowing that there are many people in the outlying areas that are not within the Seligman fire protection district, Frederick Cross saw an economic opportunity by creating his own private fire department and running calls to unprotected areas where he could hopefully charge for his services.

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First he had to get some basic equipment, such as a fire engine and the necessary tools.  Nobody knows where he got his fire engine from, but he went on the fire forums and started begging for equipment donations.  And in order to play on the sympathy and good will of the donors, he began his deceptions.

we can DEFINATELY use equipment…and we will pay shipping to send it.
We are a Independent run Company with hardly no budget. :-O
You may visit our website at: http://www.fire-ems.net/firedept/view/SeligmanAZ/
What we mainly need is 2 1/2″hose (about 8 sections),a good used set of jaws(they can be older ones),a droptank for our tanker cuz we have no hydrants or water supply in the subdevelopment,and various other small things but this is just an example.

Donna C
Fire Chief
Bridge Canyon VFD

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Hi (XXXX)…We will take the 2 1/2″ hose,the 2 1/2″ nozzle and the SCBA air filler…we have NOTHING at all to fill our SCBAS…we hafta take those to a diving shop when we can to get those refilled.
As for the hose,that 2 1/2″ is what were looking for.Were pretty well set upon the 1 1/2,the 1″ and the 3/4″ booster lines.The 6″ we cant use unless it has 2 1/2″ reduced couplings(our pumper only has a 2 1/2″ suction outlet.Email me at don@tabletoptelephone or call us at the number on our website.If no answer just leave a message becuase were not there all the time…were not a “manned” station.

Thanks a billion,

Donna C
Fire Chief
Bridge Canyon VFD

Firegeezer will make no attempt to explain the existence of a “diving shop” in the Arizona desert.  But tomorrow we will introduce you to the method of dispatching out there and Frederick’s attempts to circumvent it.

Continuing the saga of Donna and his magic fire truck.

Where Is Seligman, Arizona?

Seligman is located at the northern edge of Yavapai County on the high desert of Arizona at an altitude of 5,240 ft.  Typical of the vast distances of the far West, the unincorporated town of 500 people is 75 miles away from the county seat of Prescott and 45 miles west of Williams, known by many as “The Gateway to the Grand Canyon.”  This distance from the county government and judicial center plays a big part in our story.

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First settled around 1866, Seligman was a trading center for the large cattle ranches in the area.  Later, the Santa Fe railroad took over an abandoned rail bed and extended their main line through there.  Part of the A.T. & S. F.’s expansion included setting up a section point and roundhouse making the area economically sound.  The Santa Fe then renamed the community Seligman after two New York bankers who helped finance the railroad’s extension.

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Seligman’s famous “Harvey House”
which still stands.

At the turn of the century, Seligman was still largely populated with the cowboys who worked on the nearby ranches and the town was noted as a rough-and-rowdy place.  In 1926 the conglomeration of roads that joined Chicago and Los Angeles was certified as U. S. Route 66 and went right down the main street of Seligman.  This fortuitous alignment of the route provided longevity to the town which remains today as one of the historic spots on the old highway and attracts thousands of tourists every year.

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The Seligman Fire Department

Since the early days of the town, Seligman has always had a fire department.  Beginning with hand-drawn carts, they have kept pace as best as can be done in a community of its size over the years.

Today the Seligman Fire Department has its own station with a Class A pumper and two other operating engines, including an older parade piece.  Along with those they operate a brush truck and two 2,200-gallon water tenders.  The bulk of their activity is wildfires.

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They also carry a full set of extrication tools which are used frequently on incidents on Interstate 40 which runs by the town.  The jaws and cutters are inspected annually by the Yavapai County Emergency Management Agency.

The department is run by 14 volunteers who drill weekly and file training reports with the state Fire Marshal’s office.  They have recently received FEMA and state grants to purchase a complete set of fire hose, SCBA’s, running gear and some additional working tools.

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Seligman Fire Department WEBSITE.

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It was in the year 2000 that Frederick “Donna” Cross and Charles Clark, neither of whom have ever displayed a visible means of support, decided to fulfill their fantasy and start what they hoped to be a profitable venture by building and running a faux fire department.

Tomorrow we will start following their adventure as they join the fire forums and begin what we believe to be a fraudulent enterprise in buying and selling fire equipment and protection services.  In order to appear legitimate, they also created an archives of fantastic feats of rescue. 

“Our first write-up was back on this past July 4th,a pickup truck truck rollover involving a bunch of kids,in which 3 of those kids died,and all under 12.4 of us responded on the incident because the rest was out of town.I was the only medic available to treat all 5 patients(3 other kids and 2 adults).Fortunately,today,thos e other 3 kids are at home recovering despite thier critical injuries…and yes,I have visited them at the hospital becuase they was taken to Kingman Med Center,which is near me.As for the Driver,he is currently in jail for charges of illegal drug use(he was on coke at the time and lost control of the vehicle),3 counts of manslaughter(becuase of the kids dying),and a few other charges.He is also in lawsuits becuase 2 of the 3 kids that died was not his,they was a neighbors and the 2 adults and all the kids was up here visiting family over the holiday.”

LAST WEEK A PHOENIX TV STATION ran a sensational story about a “female impersonater” who had bought a fire engine and tried to run fire calls with it in the little Northern Arizona town of Seligman.  Firegeezer picked it up and posted it on Nov. 21 HERE.

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“Donna”

What tipped them off was the sex-identity twist to the story and that is the direction the brief article took.  But it didn’t take long for us to find out that the full tale of Donna and his magic fire truck runs much deeper than that.  His irrational behavior has been going on for several years, causing a constant problem for the citizens and the Seligman Fire Department.

Firegeezer has begun an in-depth investigation into the record of this rogue fire department and its unusual members.  Not only have we found an amazing number of weird happenings, but also a persistent pattern of fraudulent behavior.  To tell the full story of this strange activity will take several days and perhaps weeks.

Starting today, we will be begin a regular series reporting on the surreal story of the Bridge Canyon Volunteer Fire Department.

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The front line of the BCVFD

Our story begins 10 years ago in Seligman, Arizona, when an ex-con arrived in town.  Frederick Renan Cross III was unknown by any of the 500 residents except for one.  And he was certainly unrecognizable because he was dressed in women’s clothing, had makeup on, and had plucked his eyebrows.

He went straight to an old 5th-wheel camping trailer that was permanently parked as a residence and occupied by Charles Clark.  This new mystery-woman began moving around town and telling everybody that her name was Donna Clark.  And for the next ten years, nobody knew that Donna was really a man.  Nor did they know that Donna had a string of aliases.

Even the Yavapai County sheriff isn’t sure how many aliases Frederick Cross has used, but we have learned of eight so far:

• Donna Clark

• Donna White

• Donna Dorathy (sic) Clark

• Donna R. Clark

• M. Mann

• Michelle Denise

• Donna Fredericks

• Meg Young, attorney

• Don Clark

Tomorrow we will continue with the next installment of our series that will be posted as The Daily Donna.  We will begin by saying a little about the historic western town of Seligman and tell you about its real fire department, the Seligman Fire Department, and cover the beginnings of the BCVFD.