The Elbridge village board declared a state of emergency at a special meeting last night, voting to terminate its contract with the Elbridge Fire Department.
The village plans to contract with the Jordan Fire Department. All calls have been turned over to the Jordan FD.
Village officials said the decision was made due to the low number of volunteers responding to calls and the often-related slow response times. The Elbridge FD has around 40 volunteers, but only six to eight have been responding as of late, said Ebridge Mayor Hank Doerr.
“Not everybody can respond because the economy has changed, some have two or three or four jobs,” Doerr said.
“Close to a dozen calls this month have been delayed or no response,” he added. In a case where Elbridge did not respond, mutual aid fire departments were called in.
Elbridge firefighters recently approached village officials with safety concerns.
“When you call in for an emergency, [the firefighters] don’t always know the full scope of it – the six to eight firefighters are so at risk,” Doerr said.
“I know that they feel more comfortable today than they did prior to this,” he added.
He cited the Feb. 14 electrical fire at Chestnut Cottage in Skaneateles, where calls for mutual aid went out and multiple departments responded, as an example of unacceptable response time. He said there was a time when 35 people would leave from the station immediately, but this time, there weren’t enough volunteers to get out in a timely manner.
“It took a half hour before the engine rolled,” Doerr said. “To treat our neighbors that way, how do we expect to be treated?”
Village officials chose not abolish the Elbridge Fire Department, as they wish to keep firefighters dispatching from the Elbridge Fire Department headquarters on Route 5. Doerr expects currently active Elbridge volunteers to work under Jordan Fire Chief Doug Milton, and hopes more volunteers will become active with the change.
“Doug’s a hell of a resource – traditional firefighting at its finest – and he wants to do everything he can [to help],” Doerr said.
Doerr said Elbridge Fire Chief Tim Ganey had indicated that he wouldn’t for election in April.
“The firefighters approached us and said they’re not sure they’re gonna live till April,” Doerr said. “That’s untenable.
In December, Onondaga County released response times for village fire departments, listing Jordan as the department with the slowest response time at nearly 16 minutes. Elbridge was listed at around 9:35. Doerr said county officials admitted to having the wrong numbers in this instance. He said the reported statistics do not reflect what’s really been going on.
Jordan Mayor Dick Platten said that on several occasions, the Jordan VFD has had more firefighters at an Elbridge fire than the Elbridge VFD. He said he supports reorganizing fire services within the town of ELbridge to make sure both villages are as safe as possible.
“I would be supportive of making sure we have fire protection for that side of the township as well as our side,” Platten said.
Mottville FD assures mutual aid
Tim Baker, Chief of the Mottville Fire Department, called Elbridge Town Supervisor Ken Bush this morning and asked him to reassure residents that the Mottville FD is willing and able to help assist through mutual aid any emergency situations that should develop in the town of Elbridge.
“This offer of assistance is especially important to those residents living in the southern portion of the township,” Bush said.
Camillus Fire Chief Scott Binns also called Bush today offering added assistance to the town of Elbridge and its residents.
