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Armonk Fire Department

Armonk Fire Chief: “The More Volunteers, The Better”

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Photos Courtesy of the Armonk Fire Department

The Armonk Fire Department is one of a handful of fire departments in Westchester County which combine fire and EMS services into one department – which makes regular recruitment efforts indeed critical. With that dual role in mind, Armonk Fire Chief Carlos Cano stressed the importance of regularly recruiting volunteers with varying schedules to efficiently serve the town.

“The more volunteers you have, the better,” Cano said. “Then you have a variety of people that work in different fields, and their schedules are different, so it becomes easier [for the department] to cover calls.”

Already, Cano says that the department has had to hire a paid EMT to cover weekdays while most volunteers are busy with work or other commitments. This shortage of work makes finding volunteers with varied availability even more important.

For the most part, however, Cano says that the Armonk Fire Department has been faring very well as far as recruitment. The department consists at the time of this writing of over 20 EMTs including one who just joined this summer.

“We have people who come in that want to become either EMTs or firefighters, and sometimes our fire guys serve as ambulance drivers and run it as attendants and catch a little bug; they say, ‘you know what, I can do this,’ and they become EMTs,” Cano said. “Or vice versa, we have some people who come in as EMTs and go on fire calls, then think, ‘that looks like fun’ and they want to take a fire class.”

The department, he shared, sees upwards of 1,100 emergency calls per year, averaging to three or four calls per day. Cano calls it “demanding,” but the more volunteers who can respond to calls, the better.

Interested? Here’s what to do ‘Next’

How then can one become a volunteer firefighter or EMT? Cano says that there is no prior experience required for those who are interested in becoming members, and that the department provides training for whichever path volunteers choose to follow.

“You can take the Firefighter 1 class at the training center in Valhalla or sign up for an EMT class at one of the different venues where it’s offered,” he explained. “For firefighting, once you become a member, we will help you or tell you where to go. You can also sign up for updates from the county, and then every time there’s a class offered, you’ll get notified via email to come in for a class. The same goes for EMTs.”

Firefighter 1, the training course for firefighters, amounts to roughly 137 hours of training. For EMTs, Cano says the training is closer to 210 hours. These are typically completed on two or three nights during the week and occasional full days on Saturday for about four months total.

To enroll for a volunteer role in the department, visit the department site, armonkfd.com, for an application. Or consider talking to representatives from the department first at one of their popular outreach events such as EMS Week or Fire Prevention Week. These are announced via posters hung up about town, and on social media.

Fire Safety Lessons in the School District

The Armonk Fire Department has also worked with some of the Byram Hills district schools to emphasize the importance of fire safety measures in the home for Armonk families. Cano says that schools will sometimes bring kids to visit the firehouse and learn from the firefighters.

“When I do those tours for the kids, I use those 45 minutes to talk to the parents and educate them about us, because a lot of people think that we’re a paid department. We tell them that we’re always looking for people, and if you want to volunteer, here we are!”

Other ways that the department reaches out to the community and promotes safety in the home is through free CPR courses on the first Thursday of each month led by H. C. Crittenden Middle School nurse Julie Gallagher. Classes take place at the firehouse from 7-9 p.m.. The classes themselves are free and it’s $22 to purchase a certification card from the American Heart Association. The email to register for CPR training is cpr@armonkfd.com.

As far as volunteer work with the department itself, Gallagher shared a similar sentiment to Cano regarding balancing outside commitments. “Although it is a volunteer position, most of our members spend between 10 to 20 hours per week responding to calls, training with other members, and cleaning and inventorying the apparatus,” she said.

“Everyone has a ‘pay job’, so it can be a very tricky balance,” she continued. “Often, the time commitment to the fire department eats into our home lives because emergencies happen at all hours of the night and day. Our spouses and family members need to be very understanding! Most EMS calls last an hour, but a working fire could keep you away from home the entire night!”

‘A Second Family’

Working together so often, and in such stressful conditions, makes for a unique bond between members of the firehouse. Gallagher feels that the relationship is like “a second family.”

“We work together helping people, their homes and local businesses and to do this, we need to work as a team,” she explained. “Firefighting and EMS are jobs that you cannot do single-handedly! No-one can lift a patient onto a stretcher or put out a fire by themselves. We truly need each other to take care of emergencies. We trust each other with our lives, because many situations that we are involved in are dangerous. When you join our fire department family, you should be open to making new friends, learning many new skills, and doing physically demanding work as a team.”

Indeed, the Armonk Fire Department emphasizes the role in protecting one’s community and picking up new skills on their website, noting that you can expect “a little hard work, a strong sense of community, the benefits and excitement of learning new skills and… a desire to help neighbors in a time of need.”

Members of the Armonk community interested in joining the department can also stop by the firehouse on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. to watch their weekly cleanup and drills and speak to volunteers and firehouse staff about what membership entails.

Armonk Firefighter Julie Gallagher Offers Life-Saving Skills to an Appreciative Community

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Julie Gallagher with local participants of her free CPR Education course. Assisted by Richard Greenwald.  PHOTO BY Donna Mueller

Julie Gallagher has been teaching free CPR classes at the Armonk firehouse for six years. Gallagher is the Byram Hills High School nurse, a local mom of four, and a volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician (“EMT”) with the Armonk Fire Department. CPR, which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. According to the American Heart Association, immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest.

Gallagher was a hospital nurse for twenty years before she came to Byram Hills as a school nurse. She was inspired to offer free CPR classes six years ago during her firefighter training when trainees were asked to ponder how to make their communities safer. Having taught CPR through the American Heart Association for ten years prior to that, she decided that offering CPR classes was something she could do to make her community safer.

On a recent February evening, Gallagher was surprised to see 20 new emails in her inbox inquiring about her CPR class. Initially confused about the sudden peak in interest, she discovered that a local resident who had just taken the class raved about it in a social media post in the Armonk Parents Facebook group.

The two-hour class, which is offered the first Thursday of every month at the Armonk firehouse, 7-9 p.m., or a maximum of 10 people, quickly booked up into May and felt like it had become the hottest ticket in town after the social media shout-out. 

Gina DeCrescenzo, the local resident who praised the class in her Facebook post said, “I decided to take the class because we have a 9-month-old at home and the idea of not knowing how to save his life if something happened is inconceivable. I saw the class advertised outside of the firehouse and thought “why not?” 

Gallagher teaches “Bystander CPR,” specifically taught for situations where there is no available doctor or nurse or you are not in a healthcare facility. The class is available to anyone over 12 years of age as students must be strong enough to complete the skills. A decent amount of strength is required to successfully complete chest compressions which involves the ability to push down two inches into the chest cavity repeatedly over a sustained period. Students must also have the agility to get down on the floor to do the work.

“Bystander CPR saves lives because they know what to do, they know what to look for, and they get their hands on people right away and that can actually make the difference regarding whether someone survives or not,” explains Gallagher. “The most important part is doing it before the ambulance comes. When we come, we are going to do everything we need to do but if nothing was done or if it was done improperly, then there’s no circulation to the brain and when that starts going past five minutes, there’s permanent brain damage done that cannot be reversed.”

The Armonk Fire Department is a volunteer fire department so oftentimes, the firefighters are being paged at home. Upon receiving a page, they drive to the firehouse, get on the apparatus, and drive to the scene. “If there’s no CPR done for five to seven minutes,” warns Gallagher, “that person’s chances of survival are very slim.”

According to Armonk Fire Department Second Assistant Chief Terence Carthy, the average response time of the first arriving unit, usually a Chief, from January 1, 2021 to March 5, 2022 was 3:38:57. “The ambulance or fire truck is usually going to be about three to six minutes behind a Chief, depending on the location of the incident,” says Carthy.

“I’m really passionate about teaching this amazing life-saving skill and it can make such a difference as to whether someone survives or not,” says Gallagher.

“I teach a lot of new moms and dads, which I love,” she says. Many new parents are concerned about choking but all students get the full class which includes adult and infant CPR, choking, and how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). This class does not automatically provide an official certification, but Gallagher can help submit paperwork and facilitate certification upon request and payment of required fees for people who need a certification card.

“Julie was extremely impressive and the class taught me CPR in a way that I never understood or appreciated it before,” says DeCrescenzo. “She starts out saying that the emergency response time here in Armonk can be up to 7-10 minutes and there is little to no chance someone would survive if they were unresponsive without proper CPR being done until medics arrive. If that is not a reason to go to this class and learn these skills, nothing is! It would be amazing if all our residents would take this class so that if someone stops breathing at a local park or in DeCiccos, for example, we could have a real chance to help each other, to save a life!” 

Community Outreach

The free CPR class is just one of the amazing community programs provided by the Fire Department. Carthy, who has been part of the department since 2012, organizes firehouse tours for school children and groups like the boy scouts and girl scouts in the community. The biggest annual event takes place in the Spring in partnership with the preschool association. About 150 students cycle through in small groups over the course of two days. This effort requires careful coordination and extra dedication from the fire department as there must be ample members available to respond to emergency calls while the tours are ongoing. The tours include demonstrations, an overview of fire safety, and letting the kids interact closely and familiarize themselves with the firefighters so that they can trust them if they are ever in a fire.

“We let them go into the fire trucks with the lights on, spray a firefighter with a water can, and give them a general overview of how the fire department works,” explains Carthy. “We often try and accomplish a dual objective and show the parents what we are all about as a volunteer agency because so many people think we are a paid department and are expecting a paid service. Ultimately, one of our biggest goals besides education is recruitment because we rely on a lot of people giving a little bit of time.”

Besides these programs, Gallagher also teaches first aid classes to local Scout groups and holds babysitting courses upon request.

The Fire Department Family

Volunteering with the Armonk Fire Department is a great source of pride and very rewarding for its members. They are always looking to recruit new members.

Gallagher decided to join the Fire Department six years ago because she wanted an “empty nest plan” for when her youngest graduated high school. Looking for something to do with the extra time on her hands, she got her EMT certification and then dove in head first and became a firefighter.

“I absolutely love my fire department family; they are right up there with my family,” says Gallagher. “It’s an incredible group of giving people who give tremendous amount of time to making sure that this town stays safe. Any time of the night or day, we drag ourselves out of bed and go to somebody’s house and it’s just amazing that people do that and then get up and go to work the next day. I’m hoping I can do it for a lot longer. Every day is a gift.” 

“Every single one of us has a full-time job, many of us have kids, people have demanding schedules working jobs in downtown Manhattan and still are able to do it because we work with people to find the time in their schedule,” says Carthy. “I think most people who join the department end up loving it.”

“You join to help people but that’s not what gets you going at 3 a.m. when you’re on your third night call,” says Carthy. “At that point, you’re doing it because you care about the Armonk Fire Department as an entity being successful. We take a lot of pride in covering our calls. Other departments in the community will call us because they unfortunately are not always able to cover their calls. We never have that problem.”

Carthy encourages anyone who may be interested to stop by the firehouse to talk more in-depth about joining and to get a realistic sense of the commitment.

For more information about the Fire Department or to join, go to www.armonkfd.com. To register for a CPR class, send an email to cpr@armonkfd.com.

Mid-Westchester Elks First Responders Appreciation Awards to Laureen Smith-Arena, Julie Gallagher and Robert Boddie

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June 14, 2021, Armonk, NY— Following a traditional Flag Day Service, members of the Mid-Westchester Elks, Lodge #535, honored three first responders commending their courage, perseverance and dedicated service over this most challenging last year.

Honored by the Mid-Westchester Elks were Laureen Smith-Arena, an occupational therapist at Northern Westchester Hospital; Julie Gallagher, an Armonk Fire Department volunteer firefighter, EMT and Byram Hills High School Nurse; and Robbie Boddies, a firefighter with the West Point Fire Department and a paramedic. Certificates of appreciation were also first presented to each of the recipients on behalf of Westchester Board of Legislators Margaret Cuzio and state Senator Shelley Mayer. Attending too was Barbara W. DiGiacinto, town council member of North Castle. Following a variety of laudatory remarks on their behalf, each of the honorees shared their gratitude and/or described their respective experiences.

The ceremony, which also brought together many long time friends and neighbors after a ‘skipped year’ during COVID, took on special meaning this year as attendees gathered for an evening to recall milestones in the fascinating history of the U.S. flag, enjoy cherished traditions, and to share gratitude again to community leaders honored inside Armonk American Legion Hall on Bedford Avenue.

Following a rousing march into the hall and a variety of traditional songs played by the Westchester County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipe Band, a moment of silence honored departed Elks members and first responders killed in the line of duty due to COVID. Amazing Grace was presented by the Westchester County Emerald Society. A delicious dinner, prepared by long time Elks member and volunteer chef Tony Ciccia, who also cooks for the local senior center, was enjoyed by all. 

The Mid-Westchester Elks, a 153-year old charitable organization, is actively seeking new members to join its ranks; Lodge #535 has over 100 members actively supporting charitable activities, including Scouting generally,  and especially at Cerebral Palsy of Westchester (CPW), where members sponsor and support a Pack of boys and girls. The members are also active in supporting U.S. military veterans, the elderly, the poor, people with disabilities, schools, scholarship programs, and a variety of not for profit community organizations.

In 2018, the Elks launched a First Responders Appreciation Awards Dinner and honored police officers. Five area police chiefs each proposed an officer in their command particularly worthy of recognition at that time. In 2019, four firefighters from Armonk, Port Chester, and White Plains were honored. Each year, a short ceremony is performed in observance of Flag Day. In 2020, the event was canceled due to the pandemic. The mid-Westchester Elks Lodge # 535 has resumed meeting at the American Legion Post 1097 at 35 Bedford Rd. in Armonk on the second and fourth Wednesday evening of each month. For more information about the Elks, including joining, please visit elks.org, or contact Lodge Secretary Raymond Sculky at raysculky@optonline.net.

A Call to Order and “Presentation of the Colors”
Gathered for the mid-Westchester Elks 2021 First Responder Award Recipients Presentations: Armonk Assistant Fire Chief Brian Fenster; Armonk Fire Chief Philippe Goulet; Elks Chairman Jim Comstock; Laureen Smith-Arena, Northern Westchester Hospital; Robert Boddie,, West Point Fire Department; Julie Gallagher, Armonk Fire Department; EMT, Byram Hills High School Nurse; Elks exalted ruler Jay Singer, and Elks member Arthur Adelman. Standing behind Laureen and Robert is the Elks’ Anthony Gilberti, who led the Flag service.
During a Flag Service ceremony: The gradual evolving of the U.S. Flag, the tears and triumphs accompanying the history of the flag, are explained each year by several Elks members, including pictured here, Jay Singer.
Westchester County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipe Band
Honoree Julie Gallagher with, from left, Jim Comstock and Chief Philippe Goulet, and on right, Jay Singer
(L-R), Jim Comstock, Laura Toohig, PT, Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Manager, Northern Westchester Hospital, Honoree Laureen Smith-Arena, occupational therapist, Northern Westchester Hospital, and Jay Singer.
(L-R): Jim Comstock, Honoree Robert Boddie and Jay Singer

Staying Safe While Staying Home

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Thanksgiving weekend typically signifies the kick-off to the winter travel season. This year, however, is different. In today’s age of COVID, many Americans are opting to stay home. And, while that precaution eliminates certain risks, as first responders are only too aware, others can arise. Chief Maitland of the Chappaqua Fire Department reports, “People are home more, everything within those homes is experiencing more usage and we are preparing for more calls.” Local fire departments are always poised to respond to “doomsday scenarios,” but by following simple tips, a warm home can be maintained at a safe temperature.

Home for the Holidays

Year-round fire safety is high on the community’s priority list, but holidays bring seasonal risk factors. To ensure that family celebrations go off without a hitch, Armonk Fire Department’s Chief Goulet advises, “Some of the biggest sources of danger are the most preventable. For example,” he says, “Don’t burn your food, don’t deep fry a frozen turkey and if you choose to deep fry, don’t attempt it too close to your home.”

Chief Maitland cautions that “the safest candle is the one that’s not lit.” Candles should be positioned in areas that are not in reach of pets, children or flammable items. Similarly, holiday lights require careful inspection and proper installation. Fire departments urge checking that correct fuses are being used, turning fairy lights inside and outside the home off when sleeping, ensuring that bulbs can’t come into contact with flammable materials and using power strips with built-in circuit breakers.

In the case that burnt toast does trigger a fire alarm, Chief Maitland recommends using the event as a learning opportunity. “Kids are like sponges and pick up on fire preparedness,” he says, adding, “Families often unwittingly undo the lessons children learn at school fire drills when they ignore false alarms. Once your alarm goes off, we’re coming no matter what. Use it as an opportunity to have a fire drill at home. Otherwise,” he warns, “when an alarm goes off in earnest, families may be programmed to ignore it.”

Generating Safety

As September demonstrated, storms can bring power lines down at any time of year, but winter is notorious for outages. Generators are prevalent in our communities, yet they come with their own hazards. Chief Maitland explains, “There’s a tremendous amount of human error when it comes to generators ranging from installation to improper usage.” During the past storm, Chief Goulet reports that his department responded to many carbon monoxide alarms stemming from generators and says, “Most were from actual carbon monoxide exposure. Just because a generator meets code doesn’t ensure it’s operating safely.”

Captain Santone, a 44-year veteran of the Millwood Fire Department, specifically points to portable generators, which typically come with short cords that position them less than three feet from homes. He says, “Generators really need to be far from homes, diverting exhaust fumes, which contain carbon monoxide, away from the structure. A long enough cord is essential.” Furthermore, generators that are too close to homes come with the added potential of spurring a fire in a home’s wood siding.  On the topic, Chief Maitland recommends exceeding code guidelines, saying, “I would put them so far from the house that there’s no possibility of fumes entering.”

Carbon monoxide’s reputation as the silent killer is well-earned. “This is what keeps me up at night,” Chief Maitland says, “We get approximately 75-90 calls per year resulting from carbon monoxide alarms and at least 15-20 of those would lead to deaths if we didn’t show up. I can’t stress how important it is to have carbon monoxide detectors installed on every floor of a home and, ideally, in each bedroom. If your alarm goes off, exit immediately. In my dream world, when we show up, the entire family is waiting for us a safe distance from the property.”

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

Educating the public is a top goal for each local department. The more the community understands about fire safety, the less of a drain is placed on these all-volunteer departments’ resources. Chief Maitland says, “There’s an overwhelming amount of education that comes into owning a home. We are a community resource and will even come to your home and give recommendations to create a safe environment.”

Chief Goulet concurs and notes that the Armonk Fire Department creates and distributes flyers advocating safety tips. Currently, they are promoting the “Close Before You Doze” initiative. “Today’s furniture burns faster than materials used in the past. This gives people a smaller window of time to escape in the case of a fire emergency,” he explains, saying, “It’s enlightening to learn how smoke can be minimized and how many minutes can be gained by simply closing bedroom doors at night.”

Captain Santone advocates for an annual heating system check-up. “A well-maintained heating unit is a fireman’s friend. Heating systems including fireplaces and chimneys should be regularly serviced and checked,” he says, adding, “When it comes to fireplaces, never assume that ash from a conventional chimney is cool. Embers can live for days deep within ash. Always dispose of ash in a metal container nowhere near the home.”

Persistence in a Pandemic

Our area fire departments have continued to work tirelessly throughout the pandemic to provide First Responder fire, rescue and EMS services. To safely do so, they made slight modifications to their routines. Chief Goulet explains, “During the start of COVID, we limited the number of people in training sessions. Eating is no longer permitted in the firehouse and our members wear PPE on calls. To date, none of our members have contracted the virus, even through the local uptick, so it seems like what we are doing is working.” Similarly, the Millwood Fire Department is taking extra precautions, often conducting front porch interviews before entering a structure. Captain Santone reports that in the uncommon event the department has needed to enter a home with COVID exposure, “we ask everyone to exit the structure, which they should do regardless of COVID, and we enter with our air packs; the same PPE we would wear in the case of a fire.”

Each of the firehouses will soon launch their annual year-end fundraisers. Donations are important, but these all-volunteer organizations rely mostly on participation.

For more information on joining your local fire department, visit: armonkfd.com, chappaquafd.org, millwoodfire.org.