By Douglass Dowty
syracuse.com
DeWITT, N.Y. — Town councilors voted unanimously Wednesday to end its decades-old agreement with East Syracuse for fire protection in a large area of DeWitt that includes Carrier Circle and parts of two major highways.
The vote came after a fractious meeting in which East Syracuse fire department staff and supporters decried the decision and warned the move could jeopardize public safety.
Starting Jan. 1, the DeWitt Fire Department will take over the area that includes more than 2,000 homes, Carrier Circle hotels and parts of the New York Thruway and Interstate 81.
That means, among other changes, DeWitt firefighters will physically take over a fire station at 148 Sanders Creek Parkway, just east of Carrier Circle. East Syracuse firefighters have answered calls from there for nearly two decades.
DeWitt will also bring its own fire truck to the station, since the one there is owned by East Syracuse.
DeWitt Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko cast the move as a money-saver, saying that DeWitt fire could do the job for $400,000 less next year than East Syracuse could.
DeWitt’s fire chief confirmed today to syracuse.com that the town department can handle the extra emergency calls.
But at the public meeting Wednesday night, East Syracuse supporters accused Michalenko of orchestrating a takeover of their territory after failing at his longtime desire to consolidate the two departments. They questioned whether DeWitt had the personnel to take over a second station by the New Year.
The move is a huge blow to the East Syracuse fire department. In 2023, roughly 80% of the East Syracuse’s 1,187 calls were in the northern part of the town, the part DeWitt is taking over. The department’s coverage area will now be reduced to the village itself, operating out of one station on North Center Street.
It’s unlikely that dozens of volunteer village firefighters who live in the northern part of the town will join the DeWitt department, village Fire Chief Paul Haynes said at the meeting.
“You will lose all of these firefighters,” he warned before the vote.
Taxes for homeowners and businesses in the impacted area will increase next year. That would have happened regardless of which department provided service, Michalenko said.
The exact amount of the tax increases were not discussed at Wednesday’s meeting, though Michalenko said he wanted a formula that would make hotels and businesses pay larger shares than homeowners. The Carrier Circle hotels alone account for several hundred fire calls each year.
The reason for the tax increase is that fewer volunteer firefighters are available than in past years, meaning that more paid staff will be required to keep fire protection going.
Under the current agreement, the town pays the village about $1.4 million for coverage.
East Syracuse had asked for roughly $1 million more next year, Michalenko said. Village officials have said that money would help modernize its operations and hire eight full-time firefighters to complement its roughly 40 volunteers.
That meant East Syracuse was asking for a total of $2.4 million for a year of coverage.
DeWitt said its department could do it for $2 million, Michalenko said.
On Thursday, DeWitt Chief Jason Green told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard the department would also hire eight new full-time firefighters and a few part-timers to staff the northern station. Right now, his department has 20 full-time paid firefighters, three part-timers and two volunteers who operate out of the station on East Genesee Street at Erie Boulevard East.
Green noted there will be a transition period, but expressed confidence he could staff the second station with existing personnel until more firefighters are hired.
The chief said that his department had not sought to take over part of East Syracuse’s district — the town had sought a proposal from him.
As for whether East Syracuse volunteers might consider joining DeWitt in the New Year, Green said he didn’t know.
“It’s a personal decision everyone has to make,” he said. “I totally understand how loyalty works in the fire department.”
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