Keep Garden City’s paid firefighters
T.J. Michon, Garden City Union president, speaks about why getting rid of the paid fire department is wrong during a board meeting on July 25. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz
The Village of Garden City should keep its paid firefighters [“Garden City to abolish paid fire department,” News, July 26].
Mayor Brian Daughney and his board are not telling residents the full story about a paid force vs. an all-volunteer department. He says the department recorded only three active fires in 2017, but how many other emergencies were dangerous and life threatening?
If the village police responded to only one bank robbery and no homicides, would Daughney say the village would save money if it went with the Nassau County Police Department or a force that was half-paid and half-auxiliary?
Volunteer firefighters are dedicated and well trained, but if the problem is that you or a loved one is trapped in a burning home or business, time is not on your side. A paid fire service will arrive in a few minutes. That’s less certain with a volunteer force.
The department has served for 90 years. Three percent of the village budget is not too much to pay if your life or that of a loved one is saved. Nothing is free. After the village board’s vote on July 25, residents have 30 days to deliver petitions to force a ballot measure in November or a special election. They must work quickly to save their full-time firefighters.
Joe Donovan, Williston Park
Editor’s note: The writer is a retired member of the FDNY.
The Garden City Village Board voted to abolish the 11 remaining around-the-clock paid firefighters. I hope residents (I was one for nine years) know that those firefighters answered alarms as a quick-strike force any time of day and in any weather to keep driveway car fires from burning homes, or to keep oven fires from destroying kitchens or entire homes. When that 3- to 5-minute response is gone, you give up the chance to nip larger problems in the bud. Village volunteers will then extinguish your fire along with every neighboring department. Think about the damage, those family photos gone and what’s most important — your life.
Tony M. Pluto, West Hempstead
Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the Hempstead Fire Department and was its chief (1997-2000).
