by David Flint
The Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department, participating in the 2nd Annual Statewide RecruitNY Program, held an Open House at the Fire Station on Saturday, April 21. Firefighters had the Station standing tall and all the shiny equipment out front on display. [private]
RecruitNY, coinciding with National Volunteer Week, is part of a statewide effort to increase volunteer firefighter numbers in the state. Staff of the Stephentown Department were on hand to show off the equipment and explain the workings of the Department and the need for more volunteers.
Assistant Chief-EMS Rik McClave conducted one of the tours pointing out each piece of apparatus. The Department’s newest fire engine is a 2006 International carrying 1,000 gallons of water and a 1,000 gallon per minute (gpm) pump with a compressed air foam (CAFS) system. This truck carries self-contained breathing apparatus and some extrication equipment. A 1993 International is a sister truck to this one and has an identical setup. The Department also has a 1987 Mack truck with 1,250 gallons of water and a 1,000 gpm pump but no CAFS. Other equipment includes a 1991 Rescue Truck which is a converted bread truck that McClave said they expect to replace in the next couple years a 2008 Ford Ambulance, a 1986 Brush Truck converted from a military vehicle, the 2004 Chief’s vehicle purchased used two years ago and an old Chevy fire truck vintage 1946 or 1948 donated from Westbury, Long Island about 30 years ago and used for a Muster Truck. The Department also keeps in the Station a 1939 Chevy fire truck, the first truck purchased by the SVFD back in 1939. It was in service for almost 50 years. It was restored to pristine condition by Bob Adler for the Department’s 60th anniversary and is now used only for parades.
The Department has not purchased any major equipment in the past year, but they did take possession of a donated clothes washing machine that now saves them about $45 for washing a piece of turnout gear. The Department is also in the process of gradually replacing the turnout gear, each set of helmet, coat, pants and boots costing about $2,000.
McClave said the Department currently has 25 active firefighters and EMS responders.
There are about 50 members on the roster. The number of active volunteers is considerably less than in years past, reflecting the situation statewide. In the past more people worked in town and were available to respond to emergencies. McClave said that with Stephentown now mostly a “bedroom community,” and people working longer hours at their jobs for less pay, very few are working here in town or have a lot of time to devote to volunteerism. Years ago, he said, the Department was able at any time to respond to an EMS call with four EMTs and multiple drivers. Now in daytime during the week the burden pretty much rests on three people functioning as both EMTs and drivers. The Department has eight EMTs but no paramedics and provides Basic Life Support service only. Calls requiring Advanced Life Support require the dispatch of an ambulance from Pittsfield or Albany. McClave said that the SVFD responds to somewhere between 250 and 300 calls a year and about 70% of those are EMS calls. The Department is always looking for new members. There is a need in all areas including Fire Police, but the big need right now is for ambulance drivers in daytime during the week.
McClave said that while volunteer firefighters can get a $200 credit on State taxes and there are scholarship programs available through the Fire Association of the State of New York (FASNY), the prime incentive for volunteers is the sense of doing something important to help the community.
Training requirements for firefighters and EMTs have become much more rigorous and time consuming, McClave said. When he joined the Department all that was needed was 36 hours in the Essentials of Firemanship and 80 hours of training for an EMT. Now to be qualified for interior firefighting a volunteer needs 125 hours of State training plus 12 hours additional each year plus a lot of in-house training. EMTs need 130 hours plus 55 hours refresher training every three years. Training is provided at no expense to the volunteers. All this training of course is a good thing but can sometimes deter a would be volunteer.
McClave noted that in this exceptionally dry period lately the volunteers had been called out to fight five brush fires in the last month. Generally Stephentown has fewer brush fires than any other community in the county, he said, because the Town enforces a burn permit law adopted in 1981. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) also backs up enforcement of this law and assesses their own fine of $350 for violations. McClave said the SVFD is also very appreciative of the new burn regulations that DEC put into effect in 2010. Before that, even with the Town law in effect, the Department had to respond to 18 to 20 brush fires a year. In 2010 there were only six, and the following year only two. The five so far this year is not bad considering the very dry conditions.
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