Every season of “LA Fire &, Rescue”, a short-lived 2023 NBC , docuseries, ended the same way.
After watching L. A. Audiences were asked to donate to a volunteer that raised money for the state fire department to see how noble rescues were carried out by state firefighters.
However, according to lawyers for the state government, some of the money the Los Angeles County Fire Department Foundation made through the show and additional funding efforts never reached the office.
The state has brought a lawsuit against the base, alleging that it is collecting donations from the fire department’s emblem and lifesaving work before operating a personal” mud fund.” The controversial spending, according to the region, included$ 232, 500 paid to the charity’s leader, Stacy Mungo Flanigan, since last year.
The foundation has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that all donations went to firefighters in Southern California and that more than$ 5 million went to the L.A. County Fire Department.
The obligations to her client, according to Mungo Flanigan’s lawyer, included a bonus for effective fundraising efforts.
Since then-Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby established the foundation in 2015, the region has allowed it to raise money using the fire division symbol with the knowledge that the money would be used for first responders, according to legal filings by state attorneys.
Attorneys met Friday afternoon in a judge’s chambers to resolve a contentious legal dispute that has pitted the region against Osby, who also chairs the foundation.
Each area accuses the other of wasting time that was intended for first firefighters.
L. A. said,” The sponsors and the County deserve to know where those money went.” County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who first called for an , investigation , into the base last month.
Osby, who , retired in 2022 , after making history as the agency’s first Black fire captain, said his previous employer is wasting its time and money.
The fire division and Los Angeles County have spent significant tax resources on this lawsuit, according to a speech from Osby.
County attorneys requested on Friday that an accountant review more banks records to fully account for all donations before concluding a settlement.
From 2019 to 2022, the foundation received an average of$ 1.9 million a month in “gifts, offers and achievements”, according to court papers.
According to its attorneys, the foundation is willing to give the state the approximately$ 2 million that is still in its bank account after turning over thousands of pages of documents through the complaint.
According to court papers, Mungo Flanigan received two bonuses from the foundation this year: one for$ 75, 000 and the other for$ 82, 500.
Those bonuses were tied to her work performance in 2021 and 2022 but were n’t paid out until recently, foundation lawyers said.
Mungo Flanigan even serves as the L.A. government’s managerial service manager. County Fire Department, receiving settlement last year of about$ 254, 000, according to earnings information.
The base is grant “reasonable” monetary compensation to its leader, according to base bylaws. According to tax filings, Mungo Flanigan received nothing from the base in 2021 but$ 75, 000 in 2022.
” The committee had a lot of reasons why she deserved the wealth, considering she was working 15 hours a moment and bringing in millions of dollars”, said Carol Gillam, Mungo Flanigan’s counsel. She was very successful in bringing in this income.
Since April, Mungo Flanigan has received regular$ 12, 500 payment from the basis” to aid in responding to the lawsuit”, according to files.
County prosecutors have even questioned the almost$ 900, 000 a vendor received from the foundation, paid out in nearly 50 investigations, “many of which contained no letter explaining the factors”.
The vendor, FireRescueStuff, purchased merchandise — hoodies, hats, pins — that the foundation then sold in its online store, according to foundation attorneys.
FireRescueStuff’s owner, Jon Schultz, told The Times that he started the business in 2022 at the request of both the foundation and the fire department. He claimed that the department informed him that the department needed assistance with the shipment of thousands of uniforms for the junior lifeguard program.
Everything was done, he said, in partnership with the fire department. He claimed that county attorneys ‘ most recent checks were foundation reimbursements.
” I would n’t be selling trinkets on a website if I had made$ 900, 000″, he said.
Osby created the foundation to pay for programs and equipment that were n’t within the department’s budget. The L. A. County Sheriff’s Department has a similar relationship with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Foundation, which takes in money” to assist the LASD”, according to its website.
At a fire department building, the fire foundation received mail. Its web URL was  , supportlacountyfire .com. And it was allowed to fundraise using the fire department’s logo, plastering it on products in its online store.
The county claimed it permitted this because it believed that “every dollar raised by the foundation would be used for firefighters.”
In a July declaration, Osby said it was” well known” that the foundation supported not only the fire department but organizations” that lifted up the community”, including associations for Black and female firefighters.
When Anthony Marrone became permanent chief in February 2023, Osby stated that” the relationship with the Foundation dramatically changed” and that he was not interested in taking over as chair of the foundation.
Marrone said in a statement he “did n’t see the need” to step in.
” I thought it was best for the nonprofit to have an independent board,” he said. ” But I have always backed the Fire Foundation and appreciated how much it raised for the Fire District.”
Last year,  , the board of supervisors learned , that the foundation had gone into “delinquent” status with the California Department of Justice, which regulates charities, due to missing paperwork. The organization was prohibited from raising money as a result of the designation.
Mungo Flanigan previously admitted to the fact that she had no idea what the missing paperwork was.
The county sent a cease-and-desist letter warning the foundation to stop using the county logo, then sued in February, arguing that the foundation was poised to disburse$ 3 million meant for firefighters.
At the county’s request, a judge agreed to freeze most of the foundation’s money, except for what it needed to pay legal fees, and wind the foundation down. On its website, the foundation no longer actively seeks donations.
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