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Troy Fire Department to get new equipment after council approval Thursday

Troy City Council President Sue Steele honoring city firefighters who helped save a 19-year-old after being stabbed at Hudson Valley Community College in 2022.
Samantha Simmons
Troy City Council President Sue Steele honoring city firefighters who helped save a 19-year-old after being stabbed at Hudson Valley Community College in 2022.

The Troy City Council has approved more than $1.3 million for new emergency equipment.

The council unanimously approved the use of bonds Thursday to buy a fire pumper truck and an ambulance.

A new pumper is estimated to cost $950,000, with a new ambulance roughly $375,000.

The resolution was brought to the council by the city treasurer, who says the current pump truck is 15 years old with over 80,000 miles, and repair costs are becoming unmanageable. The expected wait time is approximately two years.

Meantime, one of the city’s ambulances is 9 years old with more than 130,000 miles. A new ambulance is expected within the next two years.

Council President Pro Tem Thomas Casey, a former firefighter, says the city is working proactively to get new equipment.

“There's a big lead time getting these rigs and rigs that are faulty and not in good service, it certainly doesn't work out on the fire scene. You need a fire truck that functions 100 percent, 100 percent of the time, or else people could lose their lives.”

Eric Wisher, president of the Troy Uniformed Firefighters Local 86, says some of the fire department’s infrastructure dates back to the late 1990’s. Wisher says the approval of the replacement of two vehicles makes a dent in the number of aging tools the department has.

“This will replace the final ’99 piece. It's a frontline piece. And maybe we can work into having some better spares,” Wisher said. “Other departments do different things that we do some places lease. So, to get new stuff every five years, we purchase, we generally keep our stuff about 15 to 20 years depending on its condition. We're in the Northeast there’s salt, there's potholes. We put a lot of wear and tear on equipment. We do 14,000 calls a year, that's quite a bit of running that we do and you know the stuff is not getting any cheaper day in and day out.”

The council also honored nine city firefighters for their lifesaving efforts in response to a stabbing at Hudson Valley Community College in 2022, when a 19-year-old was stabbed by her 20-year-old boyfriend. The firefighters were also honored by the college on Tuesday at the city’s fire headquarters.

The council honored Battalion Chief Eric Koblenzer, Captain Pat Shaw, Captain Matt Dwon, Lieutenant Nick Higgins, and firefighters Ray Littlejohn, Jason Lucey, Rich Bellamy and Chris Agars.

Shaw, who has been with the department for nearly 18 years, says he is grateful for the recognition.

“We do these types of calls all the time, and we're always out the community helping people but it's really nice to be honored for this,” Shaw said.

Casey says having a solid emergency response team saves lives.

“We make a huge difference on the way to the hospital, we keep people alive,” Casey said. “And we have trauma, we have car accidents. And then you have horrible incidents like this. Where again, their training, their dedication, their experience, because of the high call volume they have. They know what needs to be done.”

Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello, whose father was on the police department, says it’s important to recognize those who keep the city safe.

““They're working day in day out and to them, it's just an every average day,” she said. “To us it's heroic, to them we're doing our job. So, it just shows what incredible talent and incredible guys that we have at the fire department and the men and women just speak volumes to the second to none fire department that we have.”

Samantha joined the WAMC staff after interning during her final semester at the University at Albany. A Troy native, she looks forward to covering what matters most to those in her community. Aside from working, Samantha enjoys spending time with her friends, family, and cat. She can be reached by phone at (518)-465-5233 Ext. 211 or by email at ssimmons@wamc.org.
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