Response From Wilmoth's Attorney On Pro News 7's Second Visit To Darrouzett

THIRD response from Wilmoth's Attorney: May 1, 2014

RE: JIMMIE WILMOTH, DARROUZETT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Dear Mr. Grasso-Ortega:

Context is everything. An injured elderly gentleman makes for a sympathetic stalking horse in a case against my client and D.V.F.D. However, the facts may not be quite as portrayed by your interviewees last night. This whole situation is a perfect example of small-town politics at its absolute worst. 

Larry Schilling, the accountant who screamed fraud in your report, is of course the brother of Scotty Schilling, the Lipscomb county commissioner who has been quite vocal in his denouncement of my client and D.V.F.D. When the county treasurer stated to the county commissioners there was no fraud to be found in the D.V.F.D. documents, Larry Schilling made such an outburst that he was escorted by the Sheriff out of the room. Mr. Schilling’s alleged audit hardly constitutes an unbiased, objective view of the records. This is especially true in light of the fact that three audits of the records have been conducted so far, with a fourth in the works. This may be worth your viewer’s attention.

On a side note, I also have to wonder at the potential liability to Lipscomb County in allowing records voluntarily produced by a 501(c)(3) to fall into the hands of Mr. Schilling and Mr. Lobmeyer, neither of which hold official positions within the city or county governments germane to this investigation. I intend to examine this issue further. 

In regards to the mayor of Darouzett’s comments aired last night, allow me to submit the following:

1. As noted in our previous letter, the city pump truck has been derelict for some time now. In at least the last 15 years (and perhaps longer), the city truck was never used to respond to a fire. The derelict truck belongs to the City of Darrouzett, and not D.V.F.D. 

2. D.V.F.D. had no responsibility to maintain the city’s truck, especially since it was not their property. The city has never paid for upkeep or maintenance on the truck in recent memory. D.V.F.D. is equipped with state of the art fire trucks and equipment. My clients; as well as the previous D.V.F.D. fire chiefs, use their own equipment, which is maintained regularly. 

3. Mr. Haskell Hitt is the 80(+) year old injured homeowner the Mayor spoke of. He is also a member of the Darrouzett city council. 

4. Mr. Hitt escaped the fire initially with only minor burns. This fact has been confirmed by his neighbor, who answered his door in the early morning hours to find the elderly gentleman on his doorstep. This neighbor called 911, and asked for an ambulance to be dispatched for a burn victim. When EMS arrived on scene, they called the county, requesting fire trucks be dispatched to the scene. This was the first report of a house fire to authorities. Meanwhile, Mr. Hitt had re-entered his burning home, suffering further, horrible injuries that required him to be hospitalized for months. It is also worth noting this incident occurred well before the city of Darrouzett evicted D.V.F.D. from city property. Mr. Hitt has resumed his place on the city council. 

5. D.V.F.D. responded to their dispatch to Hitt’s home within 4 minutes of notification.

Again, context is everything. The background facts give a more complete picture of the situation. 

Thank you for your time, and allowing us to respond. 

Sincerely,

Kyle Miller