A new program allowing youth to "ride-along" on fire calls with Brockport’s fire department was approved at a recent board meeting.

The fire department has long operated an Explorer program. The program allows youth the opportunity to participate as a junior member of the village’s fire department.

Fire Chief Gregory Wing said the young men and women who sign up attend a recruit training class and following the training they are allowed to accompany fire fighters on calls. The Explorers perform such tasks as bottle changes, setting up the ground ladders and helping move the fire hoses.

"In general, they are there to provide assistance to the firemen," Wing said.

The program, he said, also offers an incentive to the youth to perform well in school as they must maintain good grades in order to be a member of the team.

Trustees of the board voted to expand the role of the Explorers by allowing them to ride along on the fire trucks.

In the past, Wing said, the Explorers had to find their own way to get to the fire calls if they were to participate.

"We have an impressive group of kids," Wing said, noting there are 22 active Explorers.

To be eligible for the Ride Along program, the Explorer must have been in the program for more than one year and must be at least 15 years old.

"This is a very worthwhile program," Mayor Josephine Matela said.

Trustees voted unanimously to allow the Explorer Ride Along program to move forward.

In other matters the fire department reported:

•They were researching the hiring of part time personnel to man the village’s ambulance service from the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

"Our pool of volunteers is shrinking," Wing said. "We have had to look outside the community to get our ambulance service calls answered."

The hiring of the ambulance personnel would be a self funding program, Wing explained, because insurance companies reimburse departments for their emergency calls.

"When someone is injured we don’t want to have to wait the 10 or 15 minutes it might take to get outside help here," he said. "We want to be able to have someone on the scene immediately."

According to Wing, basic health insurance covers the costs for ambulance service. Presently the money is leaving the village because they are forced to call in outside service providers. The program would definitely benefit the elderly citizens because they are presently being charged between $300 and $500 per call.

"We have the money available to cover the program and we should be bringing our services closer to our residents," he said.

Trustee Norman Knapp said that while he agreed this was a worthwhile program, it did not diminish the need for volunteers.

•Carl Meier recently received Fire Police Man of the Year Award for Western New York. Wing said it was a prestigious honor and added that Meier had also received the Fire Police of the Year for the State of New York Award.

"It’s a rigorous selection process," Wing said.