Peekskill Moves Closer to Building New Fire Headquarters

[jack10562 414]

From this week's North County News.com

http://www.northcountynews.com/local_towns/peekskill.asp

Main Street and Broad

likely location for new building

By Kathleen Fitzpatrick

The Peekskill City Council has moved closer to picking a location for the construction of its new $11.2 million firehouse, with the Crossroads out front as the odds-on favorite.

This looks like it could be a beautiful facility for PFD.

image from linked article.

[DonMoose 3]

From this week's North County News.com

http://www.northcountynews.com/local_towns/peekskill.asp

This looks like it could be a beautiful facility for PFD.

image from linked article.

Bigger picture here:

http://www.peekskillfiredepartment.com/PeekskillFinal4x6.jpg

[jack10562 414]

you win.

That's much better!

Thanks.

[Oswegowind 17]

Will it really happen? Too bad they are spending money on moving the old house on "underwater st". This move would be progressive and make a whole lotta sense! Good luck to all the Peekskill FF's in getting this approved and built!

Also, is this a Fire only facility? or are other agencies possibly moving there to?

[texastom791 31]

That looks like it will be a really nice firehouse hope it works out for you guys.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Will it really happen?.........This move would be progressive and make a whole lotta sense! Good luck to all the Peekskill FF's in getting this approved and built!

While its great that the City administration is finally willing or able to invest in the FD, before anyone claims that closing multiple stations and relocating to a single station makes a whole lot of sense a number of questions need to be answered.

1) Was an ISO distribution study performed, and evaluated? This requirement is worth 4% alone (and another 0.8% in divergence) thats 1/2 way to the next rating (better or worst) In this case worst. This could cost every property owner an additional 8% anually on there insurance premiums for the next 75 years or more. To equal this point loss, they would need to hire 4 to 8 additional career ff's (this does not mean they dont need to do that, just what it would take to equal the points).

2) How will the depts operation be affected by this move? Does it mean that the number of rigs needed will change? If you avoid the response time/distance issue and will only maintain one station then they need 2 engine and a spare. They can move some of the drivers onto other rigs and run with more career ff's per rig.

3) The article says the response times to most of the community will be 3 minutes from a single station. The distances that I calculate (without doing a full GIS study) show that if one uses Both ISO and the Rand Corporations Response time calculations that about 60% can be covered in this time frame.

4) When designing a station for a combination dept. They need to consider potential future expansion of the career staff, in terms of crew space. Expansion may not occur anytime soon, but what will it cost if that space is not considered now?

Again while its great that the City is willing to step up to the plate, Before they commit over $11 million and set the PFD to a single station for the next 30 - 100 years they need to understand all aspects of this move.

[PFD165 1]

While its great that the City administration is finally willing or able to invest in the FD, before anyone claims that closing multiple stations and relocating to a single station makes a whole lot of sense a number of questions need to be answered.

1) Was an ISO distribution study performed, and evaluated? This requirement is worth 4% alone (and another 0.8% in divergence) thats 1/2 way to the next rating (better or worst) In this case worst. This could cost every property owner an additional 8% anually on there insurance premiums for the next 75 years or more. To equal this point loss, they would need to hire 4 to 8 additional career ff's (this does not mean they dont need to do that, just what it would take to equal the points).

2) How will the depts operation be affected by this move? Does it mean that the number of rigs needed will change? If you avoid the response time/distance issue and will only maintain one station then they need 2 engine and a spare. They can move some of the drivers onto other rigs and run with more career ff's per rig.

3) The article says the response times to most of the community will be 3 minutes from a single station. The distances that I calculate (without doing a full GIS study) show that if one uses Both ISO and the Rand Corporations Response time calculations that about 60% can be covered in this time frame.

4) When designing a station for a combination dept. They need to consider potential future expansion of the career staff, in terms of crew space. Expansion may not occur anytime soon, but what will it cost if that space is not considered now?

Again while its great that the City is willing to step up to the plate, Before they commit over $11 million and set the PFD to a single station for the next 30 - 100 years they need to understand all aspects of this move.

Yes a consultant was hired, Charles Jennings, I believe was his name, to look at exactly all of that. He looked at response times based on the different locations proposed, the companies that are now within those areas, etc..... he gave a detailed presentation to the Mayor & Council and then also gave a public presentation at a recent common council meeting. The downtown area did fit within a 3 minute response accoding to his diagrams. I believe this gentleman has performed the same service for Seattle and several other large cities around the country. He lives in Peekskill currently.

And the committee( Volunteer & Career together) did take into consideration what this department may look like in 20 years, with additional career staffing and probable females amongst them. We also looked at what additional equipment may be added, maybe a second ladder or ambulance should the FD take over EMS from the VAC somewhere in the far future, which led to additional staffing thoughts for the ambulance. The career staffing quarters were oversized, as was their locker area just for that reason.

[Tickfighter 0]

Yes a consultant was hired, Charles Jennings, I believe was his name, to look at exactly all of that. He looked at response times based on the different locations proposed, the companies that are now within those areas, etc..... he gave a detailed presentation to the Mayor & Council and then also gave a public presentation at a recent common council meeting. The downtown area did fit within a 3 minute response accoding to his diagrams. I believe this gentleman has performed the same service for Seattle and several other large cities around the country. He lives in Peekskill currently.

And the committee( Volunteer & Career together) did take into consideration what this department may look like in 20 years, with additional career staffing and probable females amongst them. We also looked at what additional equipment may be added, maybe a second ladder or ambulance should the FD take over EMS from the VAC somewhere in the far future, which led to additional staffing thoughts for the ambulance. The career staffing quarters were oversized, as was their locker area just for that reason.

Did this survey say anything about ISO? And wasen't it more so to determine a proper location for the central firehouse?

[Guest FFNick]

Hopefully we can get more members of the PFD on here to clear some of this up. I personally think that it is a stretch to have 3 minute response times to most of the City all the time. Anyone who has ever tried to drive thru town during peak times could certainly say otherwise. So many Fire Companies under one roof could lend itself to consolidation down the road, I do not know what the long term plan is though. Hopefully these things have been looked at and openly and honestly discussed.

[PFD165 1]

A full written report of the findings was given to each of the council members and the Mayor, how in depth that report was I do not know. I would imagine he at least touched on that as he should( or we hope he should) be aware of the ISO rating and their impact.

The intention is to consolidate all 6 companies into one location somewhere down the line, it may take several years, but that is the thinking behind the new house. The volunteers have already gone from 6 individual active lists to one consolidated active list under the Peekskill Volunteer Firefighters Association and they have cut the number of Line Officers from 3 for each company to 2 Captains, and 3 1st Lt's for the department and each company retaining a 2nd Lt.

Word on the street right now is that the public will not back the plan, there are quite a few people who are not thrilled with the new administration and will vote against anything it proposes, so we will have to see.

http://www.manitouinc.com/

Link to Charles Jennings company Manitou Inc.

Link to video about new firehouse on You Tube

[Oswegowind 17]

That Video was absolutely horrible.

I guess they forget that the Peekskill Fire Department pretty much saved the Theatre a few years ago!

I didn't, cause I was there as EMS. And as if Peekskill is that busy that firetrucks would be driving down a side street every single call. Obviously their gripe is political alone!!!!! Too bad, this is what stops progress all over the place and then these people complain when the others retaliate against something they want in the future! Building a new firehouse, an idea that makes sense and has become necessary, is not a statue dedicated to one politician, but to a community that is using their heads!!!

[jack10562 414]

That video was pathetic. LOL.

I recall reading somewhere the overall plan for PFD included keeping the existing station open on Washington Street for response to the south/west side of the city.

The entire city is only 4.3 square miles (land area) so how long does it really take to get anywhere, especially with lights and sirens?

[Guest FFNick]

I guess it depends on what the consultant considers a 3 minute response time. Is that including turnout, or does it begin when the driver/chauffer leaves the station, or is it when any FD member gets to the scene?

Is it in the talks to keep the Washington Street Station open?

[PFD165 1]

Yes, Station 6 is to be kept open with 1 fly car and the engine.

The response time should start when the career person radio's in he is responding. Our rigs roll on the dispatch and meet the volunteers at the scene. Mr Jennings did meet with the Chief and gathered information on our operations as well as the past five years run history, so he should have accurate numbers.

A presentation was done by Mitchell Associates at last night's common council meeting, upon completion the mayor announced that public hearings on the firehouse would be held in the fall.

The guestimate he gave of combined soft & hard costs was slightly over $14 million, so we will have to wait and see what the final numbers are when it goes to the public hearings. That number did not include any land aquisition costs.

[Guest HFD45208]

just checking to see if anybody heard anything about what is going on with the new Peekskill Firehouse if it was approved or does it still need to get voted on. and have they decided where they are going to put it.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Barry: You are correct in regard to the response time question you raised and it was addressed in the report regarding that there was a portion of the city that wouldn't be serviced in the appropriate response time needed which I believe was addressed in another post. As far as being just over 4 square miles it can take more time then you would think to get around town depending on time of day with the traffic encountered. Even with lights and sirens it really only saves you a few seconds when it comes down to it.

As far as some of the other things mentioned and while the report was pretty decent, there were some things in it that were not accurate in regard to apparatus capabilities and some of the operational things that have been mentioned on here as with everything will have to be dealt with if and when the change comes about. Hopefully the administration will be able to sit down with members of the department and discuss and brainstorm on what apparatus and/or associated units is the best fit for its type of response and also what will benefit the personnel assigned to them. Other then that in regard to some of the questions or topics asked by some of you, its just like everything else, you have to wait and see and hope for the best. With the economical problems currently, you never know how people will react to anything even if a project makes the most sense long term fiscally.

[JRS2817 1]

looks really nice and is that all for the fire dept. or town offices

[flyboy14295 4]

I was gonna say, the location looks like it would need to be huge. The only place i could currently see it going is where Centennial Hose Co. is right now, Sta. 6.

[Oswegowind 17]

I was gonna say, the location looks like it would need to be huge. The only place i could currently see it going is where Centennial Hose Co. is right now, Sta. 6.

Or at the Crossroads where it says...lol