Rush Fire Commissioner History

 

The RUSH FIRE DISTRICTThe Rush Fire District, located 12 miles south of the City of Rochester, covers 38 square miles including 7 miles of I-390 and the state correction facilities at Oatka and Industry. It is bordered by the Towns of Henrietta on the north, Mendon on the East, Livingston Co. on the south and the Genesee river on the west.

The district is the entire Town of Rush, New York. The buildings and Apparatus along with related equipment and reserve fund amount 5 million dollars.  The 2014 cost to provide service for the Rush Fire District was $ 320,000Dispatch: When phones were first place in town all you had to do is pick it up and tell the operator you had a fire. The operator located in West Henrietta would set off the siren and the fire fighter would pick up their phone and get the information. When dial came in we had a seven digit number that rang 5 phones in homes and businesses in town – the person who answered would set off the siren and wait for a firefighter to pick up the phone at the fire station and give them the information. Then the City of Rochester set up a county wide number for all fires in the county and had a system of tones that would set off the siren and open up the home monitors that were in the firefighters homes, they were the size of a bread box. We then got smaller radios and pagers as time went on.

Today we are dispatched by Monroe County 911 in Rochester which is equipped with both ANI and ALI data bases to get correct locations from callers on hard wire phones. The pagers are much smaller now and we also have some digital text paging equipment . Our calls are also sent to members cell phone as a back up to all our other alerting systems. The fire station is equipped with MDT (Mobile Data Terminals) and printer that give us the locations and information about the emergency call we are being dispatched to.Insurance Rating of the Department (ISO) : Our department is completely volunteer with 48 members. We have an ISO rating of 4 in the hydrant area (3/4 of the town). We have a 4X ISO rating in the dry area. In the non-hydrant area we have drafting sites and automatic mutual assistance with pumper/tankers from our neighbors for structure fires and type of fires unknown.

We operate from two locations in the town, History of the Rush Fire Department:December 4th, 1920 the fire department began. A model “T” Ford chemical fire truck was purchased and housed for $60.00 per year in John Behnks barn. In 1926 the Town of Rush gave $250 towards the FD operation. In July 1930 the Fire Department became incorporated. In 1930 a model “A” Ford fire truck was bought. The fire house was part of the new town hall built for $10,000 in 1936. In 1937 the present carnival field was purchased for $550.00. In 1957 a two-bay garage was built on the that site by the fire department for the rescue truck and ambulance. It was used until 1971 when the Rush Fire District built the present station one at 1971 Rush-Mendon Road on land donated by the fire department. In 1998 a $400,000 addition was added to this station and the 45KW emergency generator was converted to natural gas. In 1964 the fire district constructed two-bay fire station at West Rush and East River roads. In 2000 this building was refurbished and a 10 KW emergency generator added. Both stations are fully alarmed and sprinkler protected.automatic transmission, ABS brakes, Rollover prevention computer, Locking rear axle, 750 Gal. water tank, 40 gal. foam tank, 1500 GPM pump, Hale foam system, 2 sets of ladders, 1500 feet 5″ hose, 600 ft. 3″ hose, 250 ft. 2.5 inch hose hooked to a blitz fire nozzle. 2 reels to store attack lines and 2 1 3/4 attack lines. 12 volt LED 20,000 Lumen flood lights, roll up doors, TV monitor for right side and rear of truck with screens at pump panel and in cab. 5,000 Watt portable Generator.  Cost $426,000 Rush Fire Department Rescue and Ambulance: The Ambulances: In 1939 the FD started the first ambulance service south of the city in Monroe County with a 1939 Chevrolet suburban that cost $ 790.00. In 1980, the Rush FD ambulance was the first fire department operated ambulance in Monroe County to be NYS certified. 20 years later ALL ambulances had to be NYS certified! Rush had one of the first radios in the ambulance that could contact the emergency rooms of area hospitals while in route with a patient. Since 1939 the fire department has purchased five more ambulances with money from fund drives, memorials and The Rush Fire District:

Formed in 1927, with a budget then of $1,300, this board consists of five town residents, elected by the registered voters (one each December for 5-year terms), to serve as fire commissioners. It is a volunteer position. Mandated by law, these commissioners oversee the tax money collected for fire services purposes by the town of Rush. The present rate is $1.12 per 1,000 of assessed valuation ($100,000 home pays $112.00 per year). The budget for 2014 is approx. $330,000. This included funds into an apparatus replacement reserve account and a building/maintenance reserve account. January 1, 2013 balance in these accounts were $953,000. The new pumper with a thermal camera will cost $ 436,000.

New York State Law – the Board of fire commissioners set policy for the fire department and ambulance service that operate in the town of Rush. The district provides the larger trucks, buildings, insurance, heat, lights and fuel, some training funds and most of the fire and rescue equipment. They also review and approve all operational procedures and SOP’s that the firefighters and officers use.

Open public meetings are held each month the third Tuesday at 7 pm at the main fire station. The present Chairman of the Board is Robert J. Faugh – 533-1892

The Rush Fire Department and Ambulance Operation:

Who provides the service? In the Town of Rush the Rush Fire Department, Inc. provides the personnel to operate the ambulance, fire and rescue equipment. All the officers and members are volunteers – not one our members are paid! The fire department also provides fire prevention activities and for over 70 years have sponsored a cub scout pack, boy scout troop and firematic explorer post for the youth of Rush. Since 1960 the department has provided the “Al Mack” memorial scout building for the troop 134 activities. In 2003 we took on the sponsorship of a girl scouting program – “Daisy Troop 710” is our troop. The FD has an annual fund drive  and carnival to raise fund for the FIRE DEPARTMENT operation. All the fund drive money goes toward new and replacement equipment, training, seminars and replacement funds for an ambulance, rescue truck and four wheel drive brush unit. 90% of the ambulance operation is funded by the Fire Department NOT THE FIRE DISTRICT TAXPAYERS.