Company v. District?

[10-Buff-4 0]

I know that in Rockland, there is at least one Fire District that does not share the name with the Fire Company within it. Is this a common occurrence? If so, what are some examples from Westchester? Thanks.

-Joe DA BUFF

[DOC22 1]

I think most Districts and Departments share the same name. Croton Falls Fire Department covers the Croton Falls Fire District.

[res6cue 67]

Not sure if you're referring to us, but in any case, we do not have the same names. Hillcrest Fire Co. No. 1 and Moleston Fire District. Same exact area, just different names. The Fire Company is named for the unincorporated section of the Town of Ramapo we started in back in 1915, and the Fire District is named for William Moles, who was a prominent developer in the area back then. Our very first quarters were on his property. We still cover all of Hillcrest (aka North Spring Valley) as well as quite a bit more. Our area is the largest in Rockland, some 36 square miles.

As far as the rest of Rockland, there are a few more examples. Now, keep in mind there are even some that may have different Company, Department AND District/Village names. Generally the Company names are different than the District and Department names, while the Department names tend to follow in line with the District or Village name.

Dept # - Dept Name (Company Names) District/Village Name

Dept 1 - Blauvelt FD (Blauvelt Volunteer Fire Co.) Blauvelt Fire District

Dept 2 - Central Nyack FD (Central Engine Co. #6) Central Nyack Fire District

Dept 3 - Congers FD (Alert Hook, Ladder & Engine Co. #1) Congers Fire District

Dept 4 - Haverstraw FD (Rescue Hook & Ladder Co. #1, General Warren Emergency Co. #2, Relief Hose Co. #3, Cosgriff Hose Co. #4, Lady Warren Hose Co. #5) Village of Haverstraw

Dept 5 - Hillburn FD (Hillburn Fire Co.) Village of Hillburn

Dept 6 - Hillcrest FD (Hillcrest Fire Co. #1) Moleston Fire District

Dept 7 - Monsey FD (Brewer Fire Engine Co. #1) Monsey Fire District

Dept 8 - Nanuet FD (Nanuet Fire Engine Co.) Nanuet Fire District

Dept 9 - New City FD (New City Fire Engine Co. #1) New City Fire District

Dept 10 - Nyack FD (Empire Hook & Ladder Co. #1, Orangetown Fire Co. #1, Chelsea Hook & Ladder Co. #2, Mazeppa Fire Engine Co. #2, Jackson Fire Engine Co. #3, Jackson Hose Co. #3, Highland Hose Co. #5, Nyack Fire Patrol) Nyack Joint Fire District*

Dept 11 - Orangeburg FD (Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Association) Orangeburg Fire District

Dept 12 - Pearl River FD (Excelsior Fire Engine Co., Pearl River Hook & Ladder Co.) Pearl River Fire District

Dept 13 - Piermont FD (Empire Hose Co. #1) Village of Piermont

Dept 14 - Rockland Lake FD (Knickerbocker Engine Co. #1) Rockland Lake Fire District

Dept 15 - Sloatsburg FD (Sloatsburg Fire Department) Village of Sloatsburg

Dept 16 - Sparkill FD (John Paulding Engine Co. #1) Sparkill-Palisades Fire District

Dept 17 - Spring Valley FD (Rockland Hook & Ladder Co., Spring Valley Hook & Ladder Co. #1, Columbian Engine Co. #1) Village of Spring Valley**

Dept 18 - Stony Point FD (Wayne Hose Co. #1) Stony Point Fire District

Dept 19 - Suffern FD (Suffern Volunteer Hose Co. #1, Suffern Hook & Ladder Co. #1) Village of Suffern

Dept 20 - Tallman FD (Tallman Volunteer Fire Dept.) Tallman Fire District

Dept 21 - Tappan FD (Volunteer Fire Association of Tappan) Tappan Fire District

Dept 22 - Valley Cottage FD (Valley Cottage Engine Co. #1) Valley Cottage Fire District

Dept 23 - West Haverstraw FD (S.W. Johnson Steam Fire Engine Co. #1, Volunteer Hose Co. #2) Village of West Haverstraw

Dept 24 - West Nyack FD (West Nyack Fire Engine Co. #1) West Nyack Fire District

Dept 25 - South Spring Valley FD (Hugh Gassner Fire Co.) South Spring Valley Fire District

Dept 26 - Thiells FD (David B. Roche Volunteer Fire Co.) Thiells-Roseville Fire District

*Nyack is comprised of the villages of Upper Nyack, Nyack on Hudson and South Nyack. They formed a Joint Fire District back in the mid 90s

**Spring Valley does actually have several Fire Districts in their area, although the names escape me right now. The Village of Spring Valley more or less runs the dept, however

[TRUCK6018 50]

A few examples in Westchester:

Cortlandt Engine Company - Montrose Fire District

North White Plains Fire - North Castle Fire District #1

Armonk Fire Department - North Castle Fire District #2

Banksville Independent Fire Company - North Castle Fire District #3

[IzzyEng4 427]

It is common. Many times a fire company had organized independently with a state fire company charter and with no affiliation, would create a fire protection district to fund it collecting taxes. Some time the water supply district would control the and fund a fire company as well. Basically it a question of which came first the chicken or the egg or did they just feel like naming it something different.

[Guest]

We are like this as well.. I am a member of the Long Hill Fire Company #1 Inc. which serves the Long Hill Fire District. The district owns all of the equipment including the trucks and houses, and the company supplies the manpower.

[Doc 11]

Correct me where I'm wrong -

A fire district is a governmental municipality, like a school district or water district, that is established to levy taxes to support a service within a defined geographic area. That geographic area could be an entire town or a part of it, or parts of multiple towns and villages, or any combination. A fire district is authorized by law to submit a requested sum of money from the towns or villages it services and the town or village must collect taxes to pay it. Thus a fire district directly uses taxpayer money. A fire district must be governed by a board elected by the residents of the district so that there is representation by those who are taxed.

A fire district may obtain manpower for providing services from one or more fire companies, or may hire employees.

Fire companies are non-governmental organizations established to provide fire suppression services. They may be contracted to provide protection to any municipality(s) such as towns, villages or cities and recieve a payment for these services. Fire companies may be contracted to protect one or more entire municipality, or sections of municipalities called fire protection districts (FPD's).

Whether the name of the district and company match depends on a few things. It seems to me that if a fire district is formed after or concurrently with the formation of a fire company, they usually have the same name. If I'm not mistaken, the process of forming fire districts (not FPD') is relatively new (like this past century). So the fire companies might have been around long before the district was incorporated. In that case, you might have a fire company named one thing, and the distrcit named something else. If there's more than one company operating within a single district, it's more likely that the district name won't be the same as either company.

But for the life of me, i have no idea what a fire protection association is. I know of only Mohegan and Garrison. Outside of NY they're more popular.

[IzzyEng4 427]

A FIRE DISTRICT is an entity that had a commission or over site board that have elected officials that come from the district. They are supported by taxes by the residents and businesses and property owners that fall into the district boundaries. There is no municipal or governmental control of funding. Districts may cover a small portion of area with in a town / city / unincorporated areas, ect. or include several towns. School districts and water districts are the same a district is not controlled by a local government agency, they have their own review boards.

FIRE DEPARTMENTS are agencies that are funded by an incorporated government entity whether it be a village, town, city, county or state government IE Fire Department of New York, New Haven Fire Department, Bradley International Airport Fire Department (CT State funded).

FIRE COMPANIES are the actual organized firefighting units of a FIRE DEPARTMENT or FIRE DISTRICT. They can also operate INDEPENDENTLY with their own means of funding and are or can be contracted to provide service to a specific area by a municipality or multiple governmental agencies.

Hope this helps you to clear up your thoughts and trust me its is confusing.