Group wants consolidation in Fire Departments

[RWC130 594]

Group wants consolidation in Fire Departments

By Eric Monnat

Evening Telegram

Tue Sep 09, 2008, 08:18 AM EDT

Mohawk, N.Y. -

A group of Mohawk residents that worked diligently to bring a potential ladder truck purchase to the taxpayers believe now is the time to consolidate with other fire departments saying the village cannot take on anymore debt.

The group, calling themselves the Mohawk Citizens for Open Government, collected 481 signatures on a petition to bring the purchase of a proposed aerial ladder truck to a public vote.

http://www.herkimertelegram.com/archive/x1...ire-departments

INTERESTING!

After reading through this article and several others about Consolidation of Fire Departments

how much money do you think WESTCHESTER COUNTY Cities, Towns, and Villages could save if we also consolidated?

We have 6 Cities, 19 Towns, and 20 Villages in Westchester County with the following Fire Apparatus.

Please note; the numbers of Fire Apparatus is approximate.

- Engines 225+

- Ladders 70+

- Tower Ladders 45+

- Rescues 40+

- Tankers 15+

- Mini-Attacks 20+

WOW......

That's a lot of Fire Apparatus and a lot of money!

Just one less Engine or Ladder and put that money

towards Firefighter PPE, Firefighter Training, and other much needed Equipment.

Did I mention Firefighter Training?

57 Fire Departments and

Approx. 140 or so Firehouses

What are your thoughts?

Does Westchester County have too much?

[gamewell45 258]

Probably the best thing to do is to add up the population and then divide it by the total number of apparatus in the county; that might at least give you an idea of apparatus per person percentage.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Probably the best thing to do is to add up the population and then divide it by the total number of apparatus in the county; that might at least give you an idea of apparatus per person percentage.

Ok. Lets look at engine company coverage:

In Westchester County there is 1 engine for every 4,104 people. Is that a little or a lot?

In New Rochelle there is 1 engine for every 14,652 people

In Yonkers there is 1 engine for every 18,113 people

In NYC there is 1 engine for every 37,954 people

So if we used the same % as NYC we would need 200 fewer engines. Now I do not think this would be adequate coverage, but what if we only had 1 engine per station, that would reduce the number of engines by about 100. At $500,000 per rig (equipped) thats $50 Million in engines.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Remember some parts of the county (northern sections) do not have adequate hydrant systems, that often require longer lays or tanker ops. Also NYC is relatively flat, whereas Westchester has some pretty good hills, which if you have to pump water up, are going to require relay engines. Could reductions be made, I'd say yes.

[ajsbear 11]

I agree there is just way too much duplication. Just take the towns, Mt. Pleasant, Ossining, Cortlandt, Greenburgh, or the other 14. Look what each town has and see how much can be cut. While I don't think anyone is going to go out and sell off all these rigs when it comes replacement time the question then becomes do we really need to another ladder or engine or whatever at $500,000+. Village departments can be combined to create town departments. While that alone will not save much now when it comes replacement time the towns can ask that question do we need. Then we start seeing savings. Not just cost but maintanence as well. As a larger group its easier to negotiate pricing. You'll se some reduction on a lot of the equiptment and some more standardization than we now have. We may also see better manning.

Grumpyff is correct. In the norther reaches there is a need for tankers that you don't need normally down south and because of the stretches you also need water relay is an issue. While you sometimes will use them in the south end to pull off of different mains up north you need sometimes over 3000 feet just to get basic supply.

What Benchis says too goes a long way. If we just cut 10% of the rigs out there, can we survive with just 200 engines, 60 ladders and 40 towers? 35 rescues?

I could go on but you get the point. I don't know how many of the physical buildings will go away when commbining and that will take a lot of effort. No one wants to see firehouses close so I don't think that will happen but the number of rigs in each will happen and of course we have all the egos that will fight over which companies go away. I for one as a tax payer would like to see any cost savings that won't degrade services and if we ever can work this issue out and save the tax payers that would be a major plus for the fire service. Save lives and property and money too!

[firecapt32 282]

Just my quick thoughts for consolidation in Westchester---too many egos--too many kingdom's--too many kings---