City Fire

Press release:

On Friday, March 29 (Good Friday), the City of Batavia Fire & Police Departments will hold a free Child Safety Seat Check Event at Fire Headquarters (18 Evans St.) from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., rain or shine.

Nationally certified technicians will be on hand to answer questions, check recalls, and assist with making sure all seats are installed correctly. Parents should remember to bring both the car seat and the child so that proper instruction/installation can be done.

Did you know three out of four car seats aren’t used correctly? Surprised? Stop down this Friday, March 29 to our event and ensure your children are traveling safely.

For more information contact City Fire Headquarters at 345-6375.

A bit of cold and snow didn't stop City firefighters from doing a little ladder truck training today outside the fire hall on Evans Street.

We can expect another inch or two of snow today, the third day of spring, but don't expect this period of cold and snow to end anytime soon. Forecasters with the National Weather Service expect snow and cold to last until April, with a short break for a little sunshine over the weekend.

The good news might be: Warmer than average temperatures in April, if that forecast holds.

Three volunteer firefighters, including one from Genesee County, will be joining the City of Batavia Fire Department as soon as they complete training.

In all, four new firefighters are expected to join the force after their July 3 graduation from the academy in Utica.

Christina Marinaccio (inset photo, file photo), a captain with the Le Roy Volunteer Fire Department, becomes the second local volunteer to join the department in the past year. Last summer Jamie Call, a Stafford volunteer, joined the department.

Marinaccio becomes the department's second female firefighter, joining Anne Stefaniak.

Also expected to go through the academy starting April 1 and join the department after graduation are Ryan Barber, a volunteer in Henrietta, and Nathan Kinne, a volunteer from Niagara County.

Barber and his wife recently purchased a home in Bergen and Kinne will move to Genesee County.

The fourth new department recruit is Ryan Whitcombe, who has no prior firefighting experience. His brother is currently with the department.

Chief Jim Maxwell also told WBTA he is expecting a firefighter making a lateral transfer from Canandaigua to join the department.

Vacancies have been created in the department recently by retirements and the resignations of Brian Bordinaro and Gregory Phillips, who were forced to give up their jobs as part of a plea bargain for engaging in bookmaking. Maxwell said more positions will open up this summer as a result of more retirements.

Whether all of those positions are filled could be a point of negotiation between the city and the union representing firefighters as the City of Batavia looks for more ways to reduce expenses.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Professional Firefighters Association recently donated $1,000 to Genesee Cancer Assistance. The money was generated from the annual breast cancer awareness campaign T-shirt sales. The firefighters association would like to thank the community for its support of such a worthy cause.

The City of Batavia Fire Department is receiving a $60,000 grant to help train recruits and improve rescue capabilities.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced the grant, which comes from FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters program.

“We’re thrilled," Chief Jim Maxwell told WBTA. "It’s definitely something that will help the organization work and move into the future with the equipment and additional funding for training.”

Besides training recruits, the grant will help the department increase extrication capabilities, assist in technical rescue incidents and provide training on new equipment.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department is reminding everyone to change the batteries in their detectors this weekend when they change their clocks back one hour for the end of Daylight Savings Time. Batteries in both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should be changed twice a year to ensure a quick alert to the presence of deadly carbon monoxide or a fire in the home, allowing occupants precious time for escape. 

Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years and carbon monoxide detectors every 5-7 years or when defective. As in the past, the Energizer Battery Company has donated a supply of 9-volt batteries to the City of Batavia Fire Department for city residents who need help replacing the batteries in their detectors.

The fire department also has free smoke detectors available to make sure that every residence has at least one working smoke alarm. To ensure proper installation, firefighters will come to your home and install a smoke detector or replace the battery in existing detectors free of charge. 

The smoke alarm and battery replacements are offered year round. To schedule an appointment for an installation, call City Fire Headquarters at 345-6375.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Tuesday, Oct. 23 and Wednesday Oct. 24, from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area south of East Main Street and east of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area north of West Main Street and west of Bank Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

It's red. It's shiny. It's big. And it's in service.

Though Engine 11, Batavia's newest fire truck, has been dispatched on a call or two in the past week, but at 4 p.m. today it officially went in service.

Purchase of the $342,000 fire truck was approved by the city council in April using funds specifically set aside for the fire department.

Engine 11 replaces Engine 14, which was retired due to escalating repair costs to keep it up to standards.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Friday, Sept. 14 at approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area north of West Main Street and west of Bank Street.

Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Thursday, Sept. 6, at approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area south of East Main Street and east of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

City of Batavia firefighters got to get a hands-on experience for the first time today with their new fire engine, to be known as Engine 11.

Representatives from Rosenbauer, the company that built the engine, were on hand for the orientation.

Firefighters were able to try out all of the controls -- from the spray canon to the foam nozzle -- to familiarize themselves with the operations of the engine.

Two platoons went through the orientation today and two more will get their chance to check out the new apparatus on Thursday.

Chief Jim Maxwell said he expects Engine 11 to go in service on Sept. 10.

Purchase of the $342,000 fire truck was approved by the city council in April using funds specifically set aside for the fire department.

Engine 11 replaces Engine 14, which was retired due to escalating repair costs to keep it up to standards.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Wednesday, Aug. 15 and Thursday, Aug. 16 at approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area south of West Main Street and west of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

For the third straight year, City of Batavia firefighters are wearing special T-shirts for two weeks to promote breast cancer awareness.

Starting Friday, residents will be able to stop by the fire hall on Evans Street and purchase special T-shirts (not quite like the firefighters are wearing in the photo above, and with the logo in the inset photo) for $10 each. Proceeds benefit Genesee County Cancer Assistance.

Jeff Whitcombe, who is organizing the effort said he's had a sister-in-law who had breast cancer a year ago (and is cancer free now) and the annual event began two years ago when the wife of a firefighter developed breast cancer.

"It can strike anybody," Whitcombe said. "The guys here have mothers, wives or significant others, and it hits home when that happens."

Pictured are, from left, Jeff Whitcombe, Lt. Mark Mikolajczyk, Bob Fix, president of the Batavia Firefighters Association, which is the sponsor of the event, Chief Jim Maxwell, Chuck Harmmon, Ryan Hendershott, Mike Dorgan and Dave Green.

City firefighters will again volunteer their time this year to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in the annual "Fill the Boot" fundraiser.

Last year, area residents donated more than $7,100 and firefighters this year hope to top $8,000 in donations, which is more than double the state average for fire departments that participate in the campaign.

The fundraiser begins at 9 a.m. and runs until about 1:30 p.m.

Off-duty firefighters will be positioned on Ellicott Street and Main Street in the area of Court Street holding boots to collect donations from passersby.

The campaign is organized by IAFF Local 896 and co-chaired by Local President Greg Ireland and firefighter Jeff Stevens.

Photo: Stevens, left, with firefighters Dan Herberger and Dave Adams.

The Batavia City Fire Department tested the oldest piece of equipment the department owns today -- a Bresnan distributor.

The device is designed to be lowered into a basement that is on fire, but too hot for firefighters to enter. 

Though, as one firefighter explained, if the fire is burning that hot, you wouldn't want firefighters standing on the floor above and making the hole necessary for the hose and nozzle.

It could also be inserted from below into an attic.

However, one firefighter said in the 25 years he's spent with the department, he's not aware of the nozzle ever being used.

The brass nozzle is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 years old. It was manufactured by Grether Fire Equipment Co., of Dayton Ohio. As near as I can tell from Google searches, the company was in business from the turn of the early 20th Century until 1930, though maybe through at least 1974. The company made a variety of small firefighting devices, such as nozzles and lanterns.

In case it ever is needed, firefighters today wanted to see if it still works and what its water distribution pattern was like.

UPDATE 3:33 p.m.(by Billie): I searched on Google for "Bresnan distributor" and found this from a retired firefighter named Bill Bresnan who is now an artist. The inventor of the device for firefighting in hard-to-reach places was his great-grandpa. Here's what he says:

"My great grandfather, Battalion Chief John J. Bresnan was a truly dedicated man who served in the New York City Fire Department in the 1800s. He was an inventor and among his many inventions was the Bresnan distributor, the hose roller and a harness for the horses that was designed to facilitate faster response times during those days.

He was passionate about making improvements to the fire service and enhancing safety for the citizens.

Sadly, he was killed in a building collapse at a warehouse fire in Manhattan on a freezing cold night in late December of 1894, leaving behind three young children and an entire city who mourned his loss. Little did he know that generations after him would serve the department and the city he loved. My grandfather, father, uncle, brother and two cousins all proudly served in the F.D.N.Y.

It certainly was a privilege to be part of the New York City Fire Department. This is a special brotherhood. I met great men, real heroes who carried themselves in a humble way. I also met great leaders, knowledgeable and aggressive officers of all ranks. Despite all the tragedy I have seen over the years, I am grateful to have witnessed humanity at its best."

Pre-schoolers from the Tuesday-Thursday class at the YMCA enjoyed a field trip to the Batavia Fire Station today, where they learned about what firefighters do, how they dress and what to do in case of a fire, and each child got a chance to spray water from a fire hose.

Seven ducklings lost their mommy on Mother's Day morning. Batavia resident Sarah Grice watched them helplessly as they all walked over a storm drain grate near the Bank of Castile building downtown and fell in. She called city fire and firefighters responded to rescue them.

Firefighters had to remove the grates from four drains on the north side of Main Street and round them up.

The firefighters then search a wide area of downtown looking for mom, but without luck.

Officials at Godfrey's Pond have agreed to take in the ducklings and care for them in one of their pens until they're ready to fly free.

Photos below submitted by Grice.

Engine 14 is out of service.

The 1989 Pierce Pumper was decommissioned last month and needs to be replaced, according to City of Batavia Fire Chief Jim Maxwell.

Maxwell prepared a memo for the city council to consider with options for replacing the pumper and explaining that the 23-year-old engine has proven increasingly unreliable.

"The unit since my arrival has been undependable when placed into service and has broken down during operations at two significant incidents," Maxwell wrote. "As we neared the end of 2011, it became evident that Engine 14 was not going to last until we took delivery of a new engine."

The city has been preparing for the retirement of Engine 14 and over the past four years has been able to set aside fire equipment reserves of $360,000.

The council will be asked Monday to decide whether to buy a new engine, buy a demonstration unit or buy a used piece of equipment.

City staff is recommending the city try to buy a demonstration unit.

Maxwell, in his memo, presented the pros and cons of each option.

For example, a new unit would be much more expensive, but could be outfitted exactly to city specifications and would come with a warranty.

With a used unit, you never know if you're buying somebody else's problems. There's no warranty. It would have a short life expectancy and would be outfitted to another department's specifications, but would be the least expensive option.

The demo unit is the middle ground -- less expensive than new, might need some equipment changes, but would still be under warranty and would likely be in service longer than used equipment.

When Engine 14 was inspected by Churchville Fire Equipment, inspectors found 51 deficiencies with the truck. Most of them could be fixed at a cost of $15,000 but the engine would still not meet National Fire Protection Association standards.

Until a replacement engine is purchase, the city is using a loaner from the City of Rochester Fire Department.

The department has two other trucks -- Ladder 15 and Engine 12, which go out on almost all city calls. Engine 14 was used for multiple-alarm fires, or when one of the other engines was being repaired or going through preventive maintenance, or when the city's Fast Team was called to the scene of a fire elsewhere in Genesee County.

Friday's MDA "Fill the Boot" drive sponsored by the IAFF local was an amazing success according to city firefighter Greg Ireland.

Ireland said city firefighters collected $7,156 for "Jerry's Kids."

That tops a record set last year by city firefighters when they raised $5,601.

"We are very grateful to the wonderful people of Batavia and Genesee County who gave to this great charity," Ireland said.