FBI Raids Home Of Township Fire Chief In Morgan County

Herald-Times Photo of Dave Allison Morgan Co. home

I figured out a long time ago I made a mistake not making a career in government. Check out this gated estate where the Harrison Township Fire Department Chief Dave Allison resides in Morgan Country. FBI agents raided Allison's home today, as well as the Putnam Co. Sheriff's Department where Allison doubles as a grant writer and chief procurement officer. According to WRTV, the raid on Allison's home pertained to a $1.1 million federal grant he procured for the fire department to build a new fire house that remains unfinished. Agents were supposedly interested in information from the Putnam Co. Sheriff's department on surplus military equipment obtained by the department.

The WRTV report describes Allison as "a central figure" in "a wide-ranging investigation of several individuals and multiple businesses." Allison supposedly submitted construction plans based on one proposal for a new firehouse but substituted it for another after obtaining the federal grant. This 2012 audit report by the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General may have something related to the investigation. "Fire and Rescue's grant application states that the new fire station will be 7,100 square feet, but the plans submitted to FEMA show a structure of 23,600 square feet," the report reads. "The Chief said that he misread the question in the grant application and thought it referred to the size of the existing fire station."

The audit report indicates the fire station had been a source of controversy in the township where a number of residents opposed its construction, concerned about what it might mean for future development in the area. The Planning Commission held up granting a building permit until a number of issues had been resolved, including title to the property, which were later remedied in January 2012. The work permit for construction of the fire house, however, subsequently expired according to WRTV. Contracts totaling more than $910,000 had been awarded according to the inspector general report. In addition, the more than $76,000 in initial costs incurred for the project were deemed reasonable according to the audit report.