The roll a firefighter plays in service to the community has evolved over the years. One of four districts within Greece, the Ridge Road Fire District provides services including fire suppression, rescue, emergency medical care, public education, the mitigation of natural and man-made disasters and much, much more.
According to their website the Ridge Road Fire District’s mission statement reads, “It is the mission of the Ridge Road Fire District to protect the lives and property of the citizens and visitors of the district. One of four fire districts in the Town of Greece, The Ridge Road Fire District provides fire, rescue, and emergency services in the southern portion of the town. Our stations are staffed 24 hours per day and 7 days a week and we respond to over 6,000 calls for service annually. These calls include fires, car accidents, emergency medical calls, hazardous materials responses, rescues, and other assistance. In addition to responding to emergencies, we participate in several community outreach and public education programs. These programs allow us to help you help each other and include CPR classes, fire prevention training, and child passenger safety seat inspections. Additionally, we conduct weekly blood pressure screenings at the Mall at Greece Ridge as well as door-to-door smoke alarm visits. We are here to serve you. When we are not busy providing services, our focus is on improving them. We do this through training, equipment maintenance, and reviewing our practices and procedures. Our crews also conduct over 1,000 fire safety familiarization visits to local businesses each year. These are not compliance inspections, but allow us to better prepare to serve these businesses if an emergency occurs.”
Captain Brian Gebo, Community Outreach/Public Information Officer, from the Ridge Road Fire District said, “We have a rare and unique job. We have the sacred trust of our community. People know that we are there to help. A mother in distress can hand us her baby with total trust and know that their child is safe.”
As with everything, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on what the Fire Department can do in the community. In normal times the members of the Ridge Road Fire District would be out in the community staffing bell ringing for the Salvation Army, visiting schools presenting fire safety programs, hosting programs at the fire hall including Fall Prevention for seniors, CPR classes, opioid prevention and awareness, DWI prevention at prom time, career and job fairs and smoke detector distribution targeting hazard areas.
Ridge Road Fire District had recently partnered with the Greece Central School District to develop a Junior Firefighter Program for 11th graders. The goal of the program is to promote youth participation in fire and emergency services and to encourage youth to explore careers in firefighting and participation in volunteer fire departments. Completion of the program will also provide student participants with college credits. “There are only four programs like this in the state of New York. Again, COVID-19 stopped everything. We are hoping to get the enrollment going in the new school year,” Gebo said.
COVID-19 has not had an effect on how the fire department responds to calls for help and service. “There is no other job like what we do as firefighters. My favorite question to hear when on a call is, How did you get here so quickly? That makes my day. Everything we do in response to a call for help is preplanned. There are no mistakes, how we staff, who responds to the call and how fast we respond are all part of a big plan in which every detail is worked out,” Gebo said.
There is also the “above and beyond the call of duty” services that firefighters perform on a regular basis. In November, the Ridge Road Fire District Engine Company 254 responded to a call for help for a man who fell off a ladder while hanging his Christmas lights. When the injured resident was transferred to an ambulance, firefighters Wilder and Sauers finished hanging the lights on his house. The resident is Darren Calderon and about his experience with the firefighters he said, “They arrived quickly and were very professional, they knew what they were doing. When they saw the lights hanging down they grabbed the ladder and finished the job. It was a painful and a bit embarrassing experience for me. The firemen went the extra mile, they treated me decently and brightened up a bad situation. It is so nice that we have these services that help us. They have a hard job and they see us at our worst, the way they treated me really helped to lessen the pain and I knew I was going to be allright.”
Gebo says he finds inspiration in the words of Fire Chief Alan V. Brunacini, an American Fire Service Pioneer who wrote several books on fire department service including “Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service.” Gebo said, “Chief Brunacini’s words are what we base our service philosophy on. Brunacini said, ‘Just be nice, go above and beyond and finish the job.’ All firefighters want to do the job, but most don’t want to be recognized for it. We take the oath to protect our communities, our loved ones and the families and businesses that live here,” Gebo said.
To learn more about the Ridge Road Fire District visit rrfd.com
