The BC Volunteer Fire Department Needs You
By Dan Guarino
With their state-of-the-art firehouse project now underway with funding help from local officials, the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department (BCVFD) and Ambulance Corp is putting out the call: “We Need You.”
“This department has always been neighbors helping neighbors,” emphasized former Chief/current BCVFD President Dan McIntrye. One thing about Broad Channel, he says, is “we always come together for a friend in need.”
“This time the fire department is the friend in need. We’re not in need of money—for the first time in our history. But we are in need of labor.”
Living in Broad Channel is not a volunteer requirement.
McIntyre explained, “Like every fire department everywhere, recruitment levels are down.” Closing that gap means protecting lives and providing safety for Channel and Rockaway residents and visitors alike. “We need dispatchers, firefighters and EMTs,” he said. “We offer free training with state certification for firefighters and EMS.”
For many people, McIntyre said, “we know time is an issue. For Senior Department members, we ask for four hours once a week. Which will usually be serving a tour between 7 p.m. to 12.”
They also have an “Auxiliary Department for people who want to work, want to help. That’s with fundraising, background help, administrative, back office.”
Plus, there are opportunities for younger people to get involved, learn skills, get advanced training, supplement their resumes, and even get school and college credit.
McIntyre explained, “Most of the firefighters we have come through our Junior Fire Department. The Junior Department builds a sense of community in young people. Being part of their community.”
Young members receive training through the Learning For Life program, which the BCVFD participates via Nassau County. “There are about 40 programs in Nassau.”
“It’s a much more hands-on training course,” McIntyre said. “They do it at Nassau County Fire Service Academy. Kids get community service credits, which they need for school. They can also get college credit through the program’s Incident Command course, under FEMA. Firefighters and EMS courses result in college credit as well.
“When you join, it can be intimidating, like starting a new job. Everything you need to be, you’ll be trained on. Even as professional firefighters, EMTs, we all had to start somewhere.”
The department is also responsible for maintaining its own equipment and building, meaning volunteers have a chance to acquire a variety of practical skills. “There’s so many things you can learn by being here. Building maintenance, sheet rock, engineering. We have people who can teach you that,” McIntyre noted.
Joining in 1984, he has served as chief for 15 years all together, including during Hurricane Sandy. Once it was impossible to leave Broad Channel due to roads and most of the island community being submerged, BCVFD volunteers went out on foot, often swimming, to rescue residents from flooding one-story homes, moving them to neighbors’ two-story houses.
Today McIntyre confirms their top rollouts are for ambulance calls, for things ranging from home accidents to trouble breathing to major emergency health issues. Here the need for state certified EMTs is critical.
The BCVFD also responds to rescue calls including car accidents and boating incidents. With Jamaica Bay’s abundance of watercraft, and thousands of vehicles traveling Cross Bay Blvd., the sole road to mainland Queens, at all hours, they are well-equipped to immediately respond to any emergency. Especially as the numbers of boaters and motorists expands tremendously during summer.
As portions of Broad Channel often experience flooding during very high tides, the department also conducts storm operations, “We get you out and to your neighbors,” McIntyre said. “We do that all the time.” During the brutal 1993 Nor’easter, they evacuated 97 people from the A train, getting them safely to the Channel’s American Legion Hall.
On another front, the BCVFD also deeply appreciates the support of local elected officials. Most recently, McIntyre said, “State Senator James Sanders contacted me before Christmas. We had a meeting Christmas week…in his office in Far Rockaway. He informed me, he had (secured) a $500,000 grant.” With that, McIntyre reported Sanders said, “We can replace a piece of your equipment. You can have an ambulance, an engine.”
“I went for an engine. Sanders really helped us out,” giving $100,000 for the new BCVFD firehouse construction project and $500,000 for equipment.
Nearly 30 years in the making, the department’s new firehouse, to be built on Cross Bay Blvd. near West 3rd Rd., had its ceremonial groundbreaking on November 30. Present were many who have helped secure funding from various sources to finally make it a reality. This included Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, who helped clear the final funding threshold to start the project, former Assemblywoman and County Clerk Audrey Pheffer, Congressman Gregory Meeks’ representative, Councilwoman Joann Ariola, and former Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. Firehouse funding supporters also include State Senator Sanders, Governor Kathy Hochul’s office and State Senator Joseph Addabbo.
Construction costs for the building, set at $7.4 million, are now fully funded with $7.5 million appropriated. Phase 1, getting equipment onsite, excavation, pile driving, etc., is ready to begin.
When complete, the new building will stand three feet over base flood elevation, have backup generators, high speed Wi-Fi, a solar powered energy system with backup battery, radiant heat and A/C. Plus a large emergency operations room, bunk rooms, meeting area and four apparatus bays.
McIntyre said, “The first-floor bay is designed to flood. Everything else is up above. You clean up, put the generator back on. You could just come back in and turn everything back on.” If it had been built, as planned, before Hurricane Sandy, it would have been operational and well above the storm’s height. But the new firehouse will come in handy for future major storms.
“This is where our city, state, federal partners can conduct operations pre-storm events and post-storm. They can do their planning for here and Rockaway,” McIntyre said.
Now as plans go forward, the call is out for firefighters, EMTs and support personnel volunteers to lend a hand.
“To me people who volunteer, that’s like the highest calling,” former Chief McIntyre said. “Any kind of volunteer, but especially emergency responders. It’s our most critical item.”
For more info email Info@BroadChannelVFD.org, Juniors@BroadChannelVFD.org or DMcIntyre@BroadChannelVFD.org
Photo courtesy BCVFD.
