WESTFIELD—Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan warns residents about solicitation of money for firefighters after residents, including Regan, received phone calls requesting donations.
According to Regan, there appears to be an active attempt to solicit donations reportedly on behalf of firefighters, with residents reporting phone calls to the department yesterday, as well as Regan receiving the phone call herself. Regan said that there is no active fundraising occurring from the department, however.
“I just want people to know, I don’t know where the money is going but it’s certainly not going back to the local fire department,” Regan said.
Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan
Regan said that when she received a call requesting a donation Wednesday night, she asked questions of the person on the other end. Regan said though, that she did not specify who she was.
“I started asking a lot of questions. They said they can give me a 1-800 number if I had questions,” she said.
She said that when she asked further questions, the answers seemed vague.
“I asked if any money would be coming back to the community–they couldn’t answer that,” she said.
Regan also said that when she asked where they were calling from they said Washington, and she asked for a supervisor, which she was not provided. She could also hear other phones in the background.
Eventually, Regan said that they hung up on her.
Another resident, according to Regan, said that they were reportedly hung up on, as well.
“My big red flag was when I had the conversation–if it in fact it’s a real organization helping firefighters–they would have provided me with more answers and not just hung up,” Regan said.
