Isabella residents still mourn social hall’s loss
ISABELLA – News of the alleged involvement of a handful of the village firefighters in an arson that destroyed the fire department’s social hall in June has shocked the local community, but it’s the loss of the social hall that has many residents in distress. “That was the lifeblood of the whole community. All the activities were centered around it. All the citizens here are despondent over it. It hurts. For some people in town, that was their only form of recreation,” resident John Wolosky said.
The century-old, three-story building was home to a bar, dance hall, kitchen and auxiliary room on the ground floor, a garage in the basement that housed a 1937 International Pumper, the department’s first fire truck, and a five-room apartment on the top floor. The building was destroyed in two separate fires on June 26 and June 30.
“I have a deep feeling for that place down there. This is home for me. It’s heart breaking,” lifelong resident and former firefighter Lawrence Angelone, 75, said. “Anything that went on in this town, that was the place you had to go.”
“The social hall was the only thing we had left in this community and now that’s gone and we have nothing,” Joseph Strycula said. “You can’t put a price on the loss we’ve suffered.”
According to an affidavit for a search warrant, some firefighters talked openly about how they could use insurance money from the fire at the old social hall to build a new fire hall.
An attorney for the firefighters denied the allegations, claiming they were based on the word of one firefighter.
No charges have been filed against the firefighters. Officials from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is investigating the fire, have declined to comment.
“I’m sorry to hear that our firefighters are being investigated. It’s a sad thing, whatever happened. I don’t know and I don’t want to be involved. But if that (allegations of firefighters’ involvement) is so, then they went out of hand. There’s no reason for that. That was a beautiful building,” said Dominick Angelone Sr., 89, who served as chairman of the department for a number of years before retiring.
The whole ordeal has baffled the older generation of firefighters, who centered their lives around the development of the fire department. They said the social hall could never be replaced.
“It makes you sick. I have a hard time getting over it (the loss),” Wolosky said. “The building can never be replaced. They don’t make buildings like it anymore.”
Wolosky, a retired school teacher, and Strycula, owner of PJ Family Grocery, were among the generation of firefighters that built the social hall back up in the 1960s after a bankruptcy. The two have since stepped down after serving as officers for a number of years.
Wolosky, Strycula and Angelone are names that have been affiliated with the Isabella Volunteer Fire Department for years. They come from a generation where such accusations would have been unthinkable.
They described the Isabella Volunteer Fire Department as something that those involved, past and present, hold close to their hearts.
They described the duties and the responsibilities as if they were a keepsake to be passed on from generation to generation.
“We have a good fire company. There’s a nucleus (of firefighters) who are true-blooded firefighters. Some of those guys have been involved with the department for generations. Now, the names I’ve read in the paper, I don’t know who they are,” Lawrence Angelone said.
They noted that James Dugan III, the department’s current president, was one in the generation of firefighters to whom they passed on the department.
Dugan is a third generation firefighter. The department was formed by his father and grandfather, after his sister died in a house fire.
“My family started the department,” said Dugan, former fire chief for 30 years.
Dugan, 56, began fighting fires when he was 14 and was named chief at age 24. Today, his son, Steve Dugan, is fire chief, and his two daughters are also involved in the department.
Dugan said that he can’t believe anyone involved in the department would do such a thing.
“That building meant a lot to us. This department means a lot to us,” he said. “And one thing I will say is we do have a bunch of good boys down there. There’s no doubt about it.”
Strycula agreed.
“Anybody who goes out and fights fires for free is good people. Although they received a lot of criticism, people don’t realize what fire departments mean to this community. They just saved a house next to mine a couple of weeks ago. They were there in five minutes and they contained the fire or it would have spread to other houses.”
Dugan said despite the allegations his department is still going strong.
“We’re proud of what we do. We’re not here to destroy anything. We’re here to keep things going. We’re walking with our heads up, still answering calls. We’re not worrying about what’s being said. We’re just concentrating on our job.”
Dugan said the social hall was also a great financial loss to the department.
“We’ve taken a loss. It’s cut us way down,” Dugan said.