New firetruck in Ilion spurs talk of consolidating departments
The Ilion Fire Department is expected to receive a new engine in about two weeks, said Fire Chief Tom Pedersen.
Pedersen received village board approval to purchase a demonstration model last week after Ilion firefighters had the chance to try it out for a few days. He said Tuesday that on-duty firefighters were taking usable parts off the old engine.
But the $434,937.16 cost — a reduced rate compared with a custom-built model — has some village officials calling for consolidation with other local fire departments.
"Finances are rough this year and will be next year," said Trustee Bridget McKinley.
McKinley said Ilion, which has a career fire department, responds with mutual aid to other municipalities, including those with volunteer departments.
"There's no doubt we need a new engine," she said, "But why should the village of Ilion taxpayers pay when other villages and towns are benefiting from it? We're not reimbursed for services. It's time our elected officials and fire chiefs and deputy chiefs sit down and figure out how to run fire departments in Herkimer County."
Mayor Brian Lamica said he would like to see fire districts formed. And while "nobody is opposed to mutual aid," Deputy Mayor Charles Lester said consolidation could lower costs and improve service. Pedersen agreed.
"We help them out and they help us out," he said.
Hopes for consolidation
Pedersen said consolidation was discussed briefly last week during a meeting of career fire chiefs in the area, Herkimer Chief John Spanfelner and Little Falls Chief Rob Parese, with Herkimer County Emergency Management Services Coordinator John Raymond.
Much of the discussion, however, focused on box alarms, which call multiple departments at one time when additional help is needed to respond to a fire.
Pedersen said it would make sense for Ilion to respond with Mohawk/German Flatts volunteers to calls that are just west of the village line in the town of German Flatts.
"I'm talking with Mohawk about an automatic response on a trial basis," he said.
The chief hopes volunteer departments might be willing to talk about consolidation.
"It's tough to retain volunteers with all the training requirements. People are working more," Pedersen said. "That's not just here, it's statewide, nationwide. It makes sense to consolidate. Eventually, it would save the cost of an engine."
Nevertheless, Ilion could not wait on buying a new engine to replace the department's 1996 Freightliner, Pedersen said.
Both the pump and motor are gone, while the apparatus is not worth the cost of repairing it. Firefighters use it as a hose cart for the lead engine.
'We should look into this'
This is not the first time the possibility of fire department consolidation has been raised.
"I started it," said Herkimer Fire Chief John Spanfelner, who recalled raising the issue during a fire advisory board meeting in 2008. "We discussed it and everybody said we should look into this and see."
Benefits could include getting firefighters out more quickly and saving money for taxpayers, he said. Every department would not need to have every piece of equipment, while stations in multiple locations would help response times.
"We could set up districts, respond quicker and the training would be all under one envelope," Spanfelner said.
Other areas have a similar situation to the one in Ilion and German Flatts, he said.
For example, the East Herkimer Volunteer Fire Department's territory includes the portion of the town of Herkimer on the west side of the village — even though the village fire station is closer.
A consolidation study was conducted and a report issued, but nothing came of it. More recent talks among career departments likewise resulted in no changes.
"I thought by the time I retired, maybe we'd have something in place, but it's still the status quo," he said. "Nobody wants to give up anything."