The majority of you really don’t know the issues so I’ll try and start educating you here.
First, The Big Tree VFD sits in the middle of a triangle of fire departments. There are the Woodlawn VFD, Newton Abbott VFD and Scranton VFD. Also in the middle is the Village of Blasdell VFD. All these fire departments are within 1.5 miles of each other!
Second, all these fire departments combined have responded to a total of about 5 actual fires, that trucks were dispatched and hoses charged, in the last 3-4 years! Why so many fire departments when so little fires?
Third, each fire company has a paramedic unit and these paramedic units respond to only 35% of the calls that come in. The rest of the calls are dispatched out to Rural Metro Ambulance service because the fire companies aren’t required to respond. The fire companies continue to ask for funds to keep their paramedic squads and it drains the residents in tax dollars by being double billed on calls from this service.
Fourth, each fire company is supposed to be “not-for-profit” but in Hamburg they are all Incorporated. This means that they make money and keep accounts that the public can’t see. As such the Big Tree VFD has an account that has more than 4 million bucks in it but yet they are asking for a 15K increase in taxes next year. Figure that one out!
Fifth, The town of hamburg has no say in anything these departments do even though they operate from town tax dollars. If one of these companies were to shut down or not have their contract renewed then someone in that company will get rich off hidden money that should revert to the town but can’t because of the incorporation. Walters was mistaken by his comment in the Buffalo News. this is what happens when a Supervisors talks about issues he hasn’t read the contracts on!
Sixth, The BTVFD has purchased property for more than $350K and they are planning an expansion of 4 million+. Who do you think is paying for all this? It’s the tax payers in that particular district and once they get away with it every fire company in the town will try and do something similar. It has to be stopped now or all our taxes will continue to climb.
Finally, the only way to get to the bottom of all this and come up with fair contracts is with contractual oversight. that’s what I’m pushing so strong for and i will not be deterred by fire fighters crying that I’m a lone wolf out to destroy the town. Nothing is farther from the truth. I will make this a huge election issue next year in the Supervisors race if need be!
you actually dont have any clue on these figures do you, i know for a fact there are a couple fire companys that are pretty much on every fire call in the town,and have been on at least 10-15 working fires this year alone,so before you start a witch hunt on the fire companies you shoul d get your information correct,or even better listen to your scanner. Secondly every fire company is dispatched to every ems call, and Rural Metro is also dispached aswell ,most of the calls in todays day and age are going to be a paramedic call so obviously a volunteer ambulance might not be able to handle a paramedic call , so of course rural metro will transport .SO GET YOUR FACT TOGETHER BEFORE YOU OPEN YOU MOUTH
Dave you should really think before you speak. These fire companies may send a chief out to a call and that counts in the tally. that doesn’t mean that a truck was sent and they charged hoses to fight a fire. That occurrence is very rare. I agree that the fire companies get a lot of calls but you must agree that these calls very seldom result in responses by the fire trucks to fight an actual fire. No fires should equal less fire companies, but in hamburg it doesn’t work that way. 10 -15 working fires? Please, BTVFD hasn’t taken a truck out of the barn for any thing more than a good wash in the last year or two!
Just FYI, I have asked for this info in a FOIL to the town but of course they will not give out the info until all this contract stuff is finished. I also have written and e-mailed the BTVFD on several occasions asking for this info with no response. Those e-mails are posted on this site, just search for them if you want. If these people don’t want to give me hard figures then I have go by what I’m told from people in the know.
Just so everyone knows and I want to put it on record that I like and admire Supervisor Steven Walters. He has helped me where he can and he listens to all the issues when our last supervisor was arogant and could care less. However freindship goes only so deep and some issues transcend the politics. It’s just plain wrong that we have no town oversight from these contracts of the fire department fund accounts.
I would normally do anything to help Walters in an election year, but if he doesn’t step up to the plate on this issue, it will be the knife that cuts him loose from supervisor. I will make it a huge election issue next year even if it mean switching parties and running a primary against him, to get us oversight of the fire departments.
I know for a fact that Big Tree (along with all the other fire companies) have responded to more than 10 actual fires in this year alone. The most recent being on Labor Day. So tell us again where your facts are from. And yes, for some fire alarms a chief will respond alone to verify that it was pulled by intent or accidental. This saves money by not starting the fire trucks and putting them on the road for no reason. If anything the citizens in the town should realize when or when not to call 911. They called because they stubbed their toe or because they don’t feel well. Are these truly emergencies? Why should firemen waste their time for something like this when Rural Metro gets paid to? So why not educate the public on the real reasons to call 911?
EMS in this town is a joke. This is how it works. An EMS call comes into Hamburg Fire Control who in turn alerts both the respective fire company and Rural Metro. Then both Rural Metro and the volunteer company respond to the call. About 2/3 of the time (rough estimate) Rural Metro transports the call. After Rural Metro transports they will bill the patient for services rendered. This is SOMETIMES covered by health care. So if you are a Big Tree Taxpayer and are transported to the hospital by Rural Metro you are double billed for EMS service. Big Tree’s Ambulance tax on property and Rural Metro’s Bill for services. How is this far?
Amherst and most of Cheektowaga have done away with transportation EMS. Why can’t we? Well most of the money for EMS in Big Tree is “moved” over to another account during the year to pay for other things. It has been brought up a few times within the volunteer companies to disband EMS transports but the small minded leaders refuse because they don’t want to lose 40k a year from their budgets. Wake up leaders!!!
So for all you vollies out their why does it take 3 Chief’s to respond to an EMS call yet are to lazy to carry in their EMS bag? God forbid they don’t forget the portable radio though!!!
As far as whether it is a paramedic call is not the issue. Our town actually has a lot of Paramedic Level companies. Big Tree, Scranton, Newton Abbott, and Lake Shore. Big Tree’s EMS budget is around 40K or so but yet they do NOT transport the majority of their 700 or so EMS calls. That is not being fiscally responsible and they know it. We make our taxpayers drive on crap roads so we can have a Paramedic Level ambulance sit idle most of the time. Cmon guys wake up!!!!
First of all maybe you should educate yourself prior to writing about issues you are clueless on!!!
Secondly, of the five so called fire departments in the first paragraph only one of them being the Village of Blasdell is actually a fire department. The remaining four are fire companies.
Thirdly, in your third paragraph you state that each of these fire companies have a paramedic unit well once again your facts are false. I know for a FACT that Scranton VFC, Woodlawn VFC and Blasdell VFD are not paramedic units (Newton Abbott I’m not sure about), so that leaves Lake Shore VFC and Big Tree VFC as the only paramedic units listed.
Fourthly, the fire companies sign a contract with the Town of Hamburg as an independent contractor (just like anyone who does work for the town). They are corporations owned by the members. The Town of Hamburg doesn’t tell “John Doe Contracting” how to run their business or how the money “TAX DOLLARS” is spent.
Fifthly, this might be the one and only fact that you have correct. The volunteer ambulances are transporting less and less patients. With the present training demands for both fire fighting and Emergency Medical Technician certification there aren’t enough hours in a day for a VOLUNTEER. With the state mandating hospitals closing floors for admissions the emergency rooms are over crowded with patients awaiting admittance which can lead to a VOLUNTEER ambulance crew waiting for hours to clear the hospital ER.
Well enough for now, as I stated earlier please get the facts before you put so called information on your site.
I just read your response to “Dave” and I’m so glad to see that you think that you alone can control the election for town supervisor!!! You should also find new people in the know because they “don’t know”.
Ah Mrs Inspector, AKA Mrs. Covert – Secratary of BTVFC, would you please explain to us readers what Item C of your 2006 BTVFC tax return means. It actually has you down receiving $500 from the fire company. Remember I have search programs that tell me who owns the computer that sends a comment. It’s pretty disgusting that the Secratary of the BTVFC isn’t willing to put her name on the comment she posts.
inspector
kcovert33@verizon.net | 98.117.170.23
Well you keep running your mouth, Your already in over your head. Do you know what the term defamation of character is? How bout the legal consequences that surround it? I strongly suggest you look it up and concider your actions.
PS your facts are still wrong!
Thank you “Inspector” for trying to set the record correct, he unfortunatly dont want to hear the truth that’s why this crap continues. Notice you never hear any good points about the fire service? Do you not purchase automobile insurance just because you have driven for 10 years without having an accident? Of course not! I’ll tell you what, even if that hose only came off that truck once in 100 years and it was my house that was on fire you bet your ASS that it was worth it! Anyone else who has needed it would contest the same!
Oh by the way Hamburg first: Good luck in your running for town supervisor I’m sure you’ll get laughed out the door just like you did at monday nights hearing!
Once again fire dept cronies come running to try and shut me up. This time with the threat of defamation law suits. LOL!! Yea like I can be sued for talking about public service issues! Get real Ken, you sound like the spoiled rotten beneficiary of a system that taxes real people until they get up and leave NY.
If I run, I may not win the supervisors race but the real issues will be in the for-front and people will have to answer for their actions.
Another fact that I have just recently discovered is that every year the Big Tree VFC hosts a Installation and Awards Banquet in January. This event is catered and costs between 7-12kdollars each year. The fire company hides the true total costs by taking money for different parts of the party out of their hidden “Liquor” account, fund raising account, and town money account. Two of these accounts are totally hidden from the books when it is time for auditing. As to auditing of the company Big Tree has used the same auditor for the last 10 years even though they have been asked numerous times to use a different unrelated auditor. How can this company justify a tax increase to the town when they spend that much money each year on a night event?
Ford, keep hammering these guys. It sucks that we truly have very little control of how our money is spent. This country and state is in disrepair at the moment. Hamburg is but a small example of the bigger picture! “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
Be careful, you just pissed off 29 firefighters who might loose their club house. Some great ideas about merging the various fire companies. The town should put together a town wide bid for fire protection and force the little companies to combine. Have one big hall where they can have all their parties and keep some of the garages to store the equipment. If each company has 29 firefighters then you will have one department with 290. That way they can respond to calls in a timely manor. Cut 400 g’s for the ambulances and pay half of that to Rural Metro to cover the EMS calls in the town. Also allow your citizens into that inexpensive insurance to cover the ambulance cost if they do not have insurance or Medicare. Then some people will not have to pay double for the ambulance ride when Big Tree, or one of the other departments can not get a crew. Isn’t it against the law to double dip. How about having the fire department pay for the Rural Metro ride when they do not respond to the EMS call? I know Lackawana and Buffalo looked into merging.
So what are you anti-volunteers going to do if Rural Metro strikes? The volunteers are going to be all you can count on to save your life.!!!