IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — The Seabreeze Fire District in Irondequoit is officially dissolving this weekend.
PREVIOUS: Sea Breeze Fire District votes to dissolve due to lack of volunteers
District leaders said they have struggled with volunteers for years, with only six volunteers on duty. New York State law requires at least four firefighters to be on call at all times, and the district could not maintain those numbers.
“It’s been difficult. We’ve had to make the difficult decision to dissolve and Point Pleasant expands their boundaries to include our district at this time,” Sarah Clarcq, fire commissioner, said.
The district, first solved in 1908, will officially dissolve at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. After that, the Point Pleasant Fire Department will take over the district. Clarcq said Point Pleasant has helped Seabreeze for the last four years, responding to calls around the clock and maintaining a roster of about 55 volunteers.
“I have absolutely no concerns. Point Pleasant has assisted us for the last four years. They have responded 24/7 mutual aid to our calls with us. And they have roughly 55 volunteers on their roster. They’re more than capable…Our active personnel will be going to Point Pleasant. They have been welcomed there. We’ve been training with them for the last four years. So this is a very amicable dissolution,” Clarcq said.
Fire trucks and ambulances have been sold to other departments, including one sent to Sodus, and most other equipment will go with the remaining firefighters to Point Pleasant. Many neighbors were surprised by how serious the situation had become.
“It’s very sad that we couldn’t get enough volunteers. The sense of community. People have so many things going on. It’s hard to have a sense of community. But we were a strong community for a long time,” Georgann Cornelius, a lifelong resident, said.
“It’s good to know that there’s people there that want to help in times of emergencies,” Cornelius said.
The Seabreeze Fire Association, which is separate from the district and owns the building, will remain as a local nonprofit. Leaders said they will continue to host community events, including a Thanksgiving event in a few weeks.
A shortage of volunteer firefighters is an issue across New York state. Earlier this month, the governor signed legislation increasing personal income tax credits for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from $200 to $800. The state is also providing tax credits for cities, towns and villages that consolidate or dissolve their services, like fire districts, equal to 15 percent of the newly combined services.
‘It’s very sad’; lifelong Seabreeze resident reacts as local fire district dissolves this weekend WHEC.com.
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