Times Union: Colonie FD Article

[JohnnyOV 2]

Well, actually - are you ready for this ......

Based on Wikipedia, Colonie has a land area of 56 square miles ... Greenburgh has a land area of 30 square miles. Populations are about the same 80-86K.

The Town of Greenburgh includes:

Ardsley

Dobbs Ferry

Elmsford

Hastings-on-Hudson

Irvington

Tarrytown

Fairview

Greenville (commonly known as Edgemont)

Hartsdale

So - it shouldn't be that hard to imagine that Colonie has 12 departments when a smaller geographical area (about half the size), and less than 10% larger population has 9 departments.

Even more of a justification of 'why are their 9 departments needed." For the non career departments, what is their call volume / apparatus owned / actual working fires, pin jobs and rescues each department attended first due annually? The career departments have pretty much already justified their need, what is the need for a single department that runs 1 single working fire in 2 to 3 years, and 280 runs a year tops? Why not split the cost of operation by joining forces, minimizing apparatus while maximizing your manpower (which we all know manpower really is what puts out fires and rescues people). You have departments in Greenburg with 4 engines and a Ladder, which are 1/10 the size and 1/3 the call volume (0.76 runs every day, compared to 1.67 runs every single day) of Yorktown, which operates the exact same plus a tanker and a Rescue. Each volunteer department around that area has approximately the same size response area, if not smaller then the 4.6 square miles since you have proportionally more, in less space, and each has pretty much the same apparatus count.

4 Engines, 1 Tiller

2 Engines, 1 Tower Ladder

2 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescue

2 Engines, 1 Quint

4 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Tower ladder

2 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Tower ladder

All those Volunteer departments combined have 16 Engines, 3 Trucks, 3 Tower Ladders, 1 Tiller and 1 Rescue. The duplication of services, in my opinion, is out of control.

I'm sure if you were to look at Long Island you might be even more surprised ........

Again, why are they needed. Show me the justification for this duplication of services in such a small area. I'm gonna have to side with the Newsday studies on this one. There is 0 need for Long Island to have more apparatus then NYC and LA combined. ZERO.

I also think that there are some that might counter your claim of Yorktown being the most active all volunteer departments in Westchester

For a strictly fire only, zero EMS runs, all volunteer department, I'll put a friendly wager on that . Based off their website compared to others, it looks like they are. Keep in mind, they do not employ any janitors or day watch individuals as well...

FYI: this is in no way trying to boost anyone's ego, or shoot anyone's down. All I'm trying to reference is when you drive and blink your eyes and there is another firehouse 0.8 miles away, something screams over redundant...

[ffp20 14]

This article was poorly written in my opinion and written by a horrible investigative journalist. There is a story here to uncover in Colonie, but it is not the chief's vehicles, which is actually a wrong number. There are 36 fire chief officers in Colonie and only 34 cars, not 35 that he has reported. There are wastes and lots of redundancy. I have to laugh about former NYS Insurance Commish Serio, who is currently Chief of Verdoy. He just pushed his department to buy a quint so that they had their own ladder truck. Verdoy is surrounded on 3 sides by ladders, Midway, Shaker Road, and Latham. Their 4th border is the Mohawk River. A total waste of taxpayer money.

You also forgot the ladder in Niskayuna.

Interesting that the same chief you mention is mr. conservative on his radio talk show and in his conversations with other conservative radio talk show hosts. Their new firehouse is anything but "austere".

[Monty 35]

Again, why are they needed. Show me the justification for this duplication of services in such a small area. I'm gonna have to side with the Newsday studies on this one. There is 0 need for Long Island to have more apparatus then NYC and LA combined. ZERO.

For a strictly fire only, zero EMS runs, all volunteer department, I'll put a friendly wager on that . Based off their website compared to others, it looks like they are. Keep in mind, they do not employ any janitors or day watch individuals as well...

FYI: this is in no way trying to boost anyone's ego, or shoot anyone's down. All I'm trying to reference is when you drive and blink your eyes and there is another firehouse 0.8 miles away, something screams over redundant...

I'm not saying all these departments and units are needed - but I was surprised that you were surprised at the number

I'll also concede that last year, YHFD did run to more calls than the 'all volunteer' department I was thinking of - by about 90.

[JohnnyOV 2]

I'm not saying all these departments and units are needed - but I was surprised that you were surprised at the number

I'll also concede that last year, YHFD did run to more calls than the 'all volunteer' department I was thinking of - by about 90.

Gotcha, I did a little "google maping" last night after that post and realized that I shouldn't have been surprised. I guess I thought they covered more area then they already do.

And I'll take a 6-Pack of your finest Hefewizen beer please!

Edited May 13, 2011 by JohnnyOV

[th1 1]

As far as it goes with lathams heavy rescue. yes it is oversized. With Maplewood fire dept they run mutual aid with latham for car accidents on I 787 and Alternate Rte 7 so really they dont need a rescue pumper or heavy rescue. Verdoy does need the quint because each ladder truck that is near them is at least 5 minutes away and that time depends on if they can get a crew ready in a decent time. 2 of colonies fire depts run mutual aid to the Albany international airport if needed (Verdoy and Shaker Road Loudonville are the 2 depts. So if you look at what they cover and help cover you would realize there is a need for these depts. And colonie center is on central ave not western turnpike. Western turnpike is guilderland who is covered by 5 depts and that mall is Crossgates Mall. I have lived in this area all my life, I have relatives and friends that are part of some of these depts. I see this article in several ways. yes these depts should learn to cut down on spending but then again they spend the money to keep the people safe. and alot of their money is made by fundraising.

[INIT915 1,119]

As far as it goes with lathams heavy rescue. yes it is oversized. With Maplewood fire dept they run mutual aid with latham for car accidents on I 787 and Alternate Rte 7 so really they dont need a rescue pumper or heavy rescue. Verdoy does need the quint because each ladder truck that is near them is at least 5 minutes away and that time depends on if they can get a crew ready in a decent time. 2 of colonies fire depts run mutual aid to the Albany international airport if needed (Verdoy and Shaker Road Loudonville are the 2 depts. So if you look at what they cover and help cover you would realize there is a need for these depts. And colonie center is on central ave not western turnpike. Western turnpike is guilderland who is covered by 5 depts and that mall is Crossgates Mall. I have lived in this area all my life, I have relatives and friends that are part of some of these depts. I see this article in several ways. yes these depts should learn to cut down on spending but then again they spend the money to keep the people safe. and alot of their money is made by fundraising.

The physical location of the fire stations is less of an issue then the bloated administration of them. No one is arguing that Colonie should condense all operations out of one or two stations. Rather, perhaps bringing them all, under one administration would save a significant amount of money and perhaps reduce operations from 12 stations to a few less than that. Also, a centralized command would undoubtedly be able to assure responses from other stations which would negate the need for at least a few of the apparatus mentioned earlier. Take into account the value of those units and at a few hundred thousand here and a few hundred thousand there, soon we start talking about real money.

It's also great they have fund raising, but that's no excuse to spend money if it's not necessary. That fund raising can be used to lower the tax burden. Although its been argued that unless the budget is crippling the community, no action is needed, I would argue that couldn't be more wrong.

[helicopper 1,050]

MODERATOR NOTE:

You've probably noticed that this thread is a little bit shorter than it had been. The infantile rant of one person masquerading as two (different screen names) have been removed. Unfortunately, several posts by mature, reasonable members were removed as well because the quoted they prohibited content. No substantive comments that contributed to this dialogue were removed and I apologize for the inconvenience caused by not getting to these posts more expeditiously.

Remember that this is an emotional issue for some and for others it is simply an opportunity to stir the pot. Please try not to lower yourselves to the level of these pot stirrers and always remember:

Never engage in a battle of wits with one who is unarmed!

[nysff 18]

As far as it goes with lathams heavy rescue. yes it is oversized. With Maplewood fire dept they run mutual aid with latham for car accidents on I 787 and Alternate Rte 7 so really they dont need a rescue pumper or heavy rescue. Verdoy does need the quint because each ladder truck that is near them is at least 5 minutes away and that time depends on if they can get a crew ready in a decent time. 2 of colonies fire depts run mutual aid to the Albany international airport if needed (Verdoy and Shaker Road Loudonville are the 2 depts. So if you look at what they cover and help cover you would realize there is a need for these depts. And colonie center is on central ave not western turnpike. Western turnpike is guilderland who is covered by 5 depts and that mall is Crossgates Mall. I have lived in this area all my life, I have relatives and friends that are part of some of these depts. I see this article in several ways. yes these depts should learn to cut down on spending but then again they spend the money to keep the people safe. and alot of their money is made by fundraising.

I still have to disagree about the Verdoy quint. Latham and Shaker Road routinely arrive on scene with their respective truck companies or any called apparatus for that matter before Verdoy's 1st due is even enroute (Monty can attest to this), especially at night. Verdoy gets out quickly during the day because they staff the station with 3 "station keepers". I recall about two years ago Latham getting in with an engine 1st due well into Verdoy's district during the daytime as well. The only truck that is a little slow for Verdoy's district was Midway when it was running out of the central ave station. As far as Maplewood not needing a rescue is true, that is why they do not have one and never have. They do however have the required equipment on engine 422 to be called a rescue (cutters, spreaders, ram, power plant, onboard generator, and scene lighting). The chiefs at Maplewood decided long ago that they wanted to rely on Latham, Boght, and Schuyler Heights for extrication services depending on where the call was in the district. Every extrication they get 2 rescue companies automatic plus themselves with their tools on the engine.

Consolidation is the what needs to be done. There is no one accountable for the town as a whole. Latham and Shaker Road "share" several buildings (business/buildings are split between two districts). The box assignments for the same building are completely different. Schuyler Heights and Menands is another example with Village One Apartments. 3/4 of the complex is in the village. The box on the village side is all apparatus from the village, a truck from Watervliet Arsenal, a FAST from Latham, a truck and engine from Schuyler Heights. The box on the heights side is All apparatus from Schuyler Heights, a truck from Menands, a FAST from Colonie Village, a rescue from Shaker Road(which no longer exists), and an engine from Maplewood. This is the same complex, same hydrant system, building construction two entirely different assignments.

[rockl3 1]

i have just read that fasny has just received 4.5 million dollars in safer grant money for what? more parties banners,tv ads. i cant believe it we have firehouses closing and firefighers getting laid off every day and they get 4.5 million tax dollars for recruitment something is wrog with that picture.