Supporting and Supplying Our Firefighters
As a former first responder, I am humbled to highlight a brand-new life-saving vehicle that arrived at the Rockland County Fire Training Center, costing nearly $500,000.
Due to rising repair costs and questionable reliability, our Fire and Emergency Services Director Chris Kear ascertained it was time to replace the 1998 Ferrara Fire pumper, after over 20 years of faithful service. We in Rockland don’t believe in cutting corners when it comes to saving lives and wasted no time replacing this outdated pumper.
With the support of my office and help from our Purchasing Department, we contracted to buy a new Pierce Saber Engine semi-custom pumper in a very expeditious manner for our first responders.
This brand-new engine carries 750 gallons of water, has a 1,500 gallon per minute pump, and will be used by our expert instructors to train hundreds of volunteer firefighters at the Fire Training Center.
Volunteer firefighters are on a completely different level of selfless, choosing to risk their own lives for nothing in return, and it is our job in County government to do everything we can to provide them with the best training imaginable, to ensure they come out of emergencies alive. There’s no question training helps our heroic firefighters respond more efficiently and can mean the world of difference in protecting themselves, their fellow first responders, and most importantly our residents.
As part of our commitment to investing in public safety and first responders, I’m proud to say we recently completed a $250,000 renovation of our Fire Safety Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Training building and are also in the process of bidding out work for a new 3-story fire operations facility. This $700,000 building will be a new home for first responders to do live burns, ladder work and search and rescue training.
These upgrades are a small price to pay to provide firefighters all the tools necessary to stay safe and make it home to their families. Let’s not forget; COVID gave the phrase risking lives a whole new meaning. Despite the major threat to their own health and well being, these brave men and women continue to save lives throughout the pandemic.
As a former NYPD Police Commander, I know emergency responders think they are simply doing what they were trained to do but I am here to tell you that your efforts are heroic and have not gone unnoticed. I hope these investments by my administration underline our appreciation of all that you do.
