Commissioners begin next steps to rebuild Spencerport firehouse

Commissioners begin next steps
to rebuild Spencerport firehouse

Haulers transferred the debris that once was Spencerport Fire Department’s Station 1 last week. As the transport tractor trailers pulled off the Lyell Avenue site with salvage materials and rubble, the fire district’s commissioners were handling all the details that follow the disastrous August 11 fire and preparing for the next phases.

The Commissioners of the Spencerport Fire District, a governing body elected by the residents of the district, have added workshop meetings to their regular schedule to handle the many tasks at hand.

During the August 23 meeting at Station 3 on Route 259, board members discussed getting inventory lists for the contents of the building for insurance purposes, asking line officers to examine salvaged equipment currently stored in a trailer on the firehouse site to determine the usefulness of items such as air packs and masks, and talked about oversight options (such as clerk of the works or field superintendent) for construction of a new firehouse.

Priority one, commissioners said, is to relocate the firetrucks currently housed at the Spencerport Electric building near the Department of Public Works site at the end of West Avenue. They are working with a local company to lease a central village location for the next several months. Commissioners said they will announce the site when the plan is finalized.

Other trucks formerly housed at the Lyell Avenue station are lodged at Station 2 at the corner of Routes 104 and 259 and at Station 3. The optimum scenario would be to have the pumper and rescue truck located on West Avenue and the EMS vehicle located at the downtown village location, board Chairman Rich McQuilkin said.

The commissioners meetings are scheduled for August 30, September 13, September 20, September 27, October 18, and October 25. All meetings will be held at Station #3, 2588 South Union Street, Spencerport. The workshops begin at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.

The aftermath and the future
According to Public Information Officer Brian Krywy, the only fundraiser the department is currently planning is their annual fund drive. “It’s too early to say how much is going to be covered by insurance and how much we are going to have to make up out of” the district’s budget.

Yet, many people still want to donate money and can do so if they would like. Such donations are being put in a special fund that will be used to furnish the new station. The mailing address is: Spencerport Fire District, P.O. Box 359, Spencerport, NY 14559.