Fire districts join bulk-buying consortium

Twenty-six Suffolk County fire districts have signed on to a joint purchasing agreement designed to save tax dollars by buying items in bulk, County Executive Steve Levy said Tuesday.

The Long Island Purchasing Council, a procurement consortium including Suffolk and Nassau counties and several Long Island municipalities, is designed to combine purchasing power for governments, Levy said of the year-old council.

The fire districts expect to save 10 percent to 20 percent on items such as specialized fire rescue equipment and defibrillator pads through bulk purchases, Levy said. "For the first time ever, we've got fire departments working together to do a major bid," Levy said. "This starts to add up into real money."

Levy said the first bid for fire district equipment could go out in early January.

He said another dozen fire districts and 20 stand-alone ambulance companies are also slated to join the consortium.

The county's purchasing of emergency medical items for departments such as Suffolk police and the health department will also be centralized, he said.

County officials said the fire districts that have signed on to the purchasing group include: Babylon, Bellport, Bohemia, Central Islip, Centereach, Cold Spring Harbor, Copiague, Eastport, Farmingville and Greenlawn. Others who have signed on are Hagerman, Holbrook, Huntington, Mastic, Kings Park, Melville, Middle Island, Miller Place, Ridge, Rocky Point, Selden, Sound Beach, West Babylon, West Islip, Wading River and West Sayville-Oakdale.

The consortium will be outlined at a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Holbrook Fire Department, 390 Terry Blvd.