2009 News

October

October 20, 2009 - Working Structure Fire Route 9W Athens

At approx. 1530 hours on Tuesday October 20 2009 Greene 911 dispatched Catskill Fire to Route 9W north of Browns Crossing Road for a structure fire. Catskill car 3-20 reported out of service with in minutes of the dispatch and advised Greene 911 that the fire was well into the West Athens Fire District. Car 3-20 arrived on the scene of a well involved residential structure fire just after advising Greene 911 that the fire was in the Town of Athens.

Catskill Fire as well as Leeds Fire, Athens Fire, Greene County Fire Coordinator's Office, Catskill Ambulance & NYS Police BCI unit were all on the scene assisting West Athens Fire.

September

September 27, 2009 - Guns vs Hoses

The CFD defeated the CPD 22-7 in the 4th Annual Guns vs Hoses Benefit Softball game. Over $800 was raised and will be donated to the Westchester Medical Burn Center. We'd like to thank all of those who were involved or donated items to raffle including Mahalo Gifts, Natalie's Nook, Mary Kay represented by Kellie Darling, FDNY, Tri-City Valley Cats, WalMart, E. Mauer Trucking, A'la MOD, Village Pizza and the Wine Cellar. We'd also like to thank Forlini's and Garden Gate Cafe for selling raffle tickets, Mountain T-Shirts for donating the team shirts and Price Chopper for donating all of the food and drinks.

September 10, 2009 - Wet Down Pictures

They're finally here! View the pictures from the Wet Down of Tower 3-15


July

July 13, 2009 - Tower Wet Down

Everyone is invited to attend the Open House/Wet Down for the Catskill Fire Department's new 2008 Sutphen 95' Tower.
Date: Sunday July 19, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Ceremonies will be at 2:00pm Wet Down will start at 2:30pm or immediately following the ceremonies. Please come out and celebrate this new addition to the Catskill Fire Department.

July 6, 2009 - Porch Fire

On Monday July 6, 2009 just before 1600hrs Catskill Firefighters were dispatched by Greene County 911 for a reported structure fire to the rear of the structure near the intersection of Brandows Ally and Union St. in the Village of Catskill. Upon the arrival of Catskill Car 3-10 a fire on the second floor back porch of a multiuse building was found. Crews from Engine 3-21 went to work and found that the fire may have extended into the roof of the building. With this being a possibilty Catskill Command requested Hudson Fire with Engine 3-0 and the F.A.S.T team to the scene and Athens Fire to relocate to Catskill's Central Station for standby duty. The fire was quickly extinguished by the engine company with no signs of extension to the main building noted. The fire was apparently started by an unattended candle on the porch.

Units to the Scene:
  • Engine 3-21
  • Tower 3-15
  • Rescue 3-16
  • Catskill Ambulance
Mutual Aid:
  • Hudson Engine 3-0
  • Greene County Fire Coordinators Office

July 3, 2009 - Multi Family Apartment Building

At approx. 0030hrs on July 3, 2009 Greene County 911 received a report of a working structure fire at 15 Thompson St. in the Village of Catskill. Catskill Fire was dispatched by Greene County 911 as well as Catskill Ambulance and Catskill Police Department. Upon arrival of Greene County Department Fire Coordinator, Lackie confirmed a working structure fire in a 2 story residence. Moments after the arrival of County Car 4, Catskill Car 3-10 arrived and established Catskill Command and requested Hudson with Engine 3-0 and F.A.S.T team, Athens Fire with ETA 2-4 and manpower to the scene. Catskill Command also requested West Athens Fire relocate to Catskill's Central Station with one ETA, one Rescue and manpower.

While firefighters from Engine 3-21 were placing hand lines into operation on the first floor they came across one victim who appeared to be in cardiac arrest. Several members extricated the subject from the building, performed CPR and transported him to an awaiting Catskill Ambulance on scene. CPR was continued for several mintues with negative results and the victim was declared deceased on the scene.

The engine company members from Engine 3-21 were faced with a heavy fire load on the first and second floor on b and c sides of the building. During the suppression of the fire on both floors the tower company members from Tower 3-15 and Rescue 3-16 placed a ventilation hole above the seat of the fire. During the height of the fire Catskill Command requested that West Athens Fire respond to the scene and requested Leeds Fire to standby at Catskill's Central Station. At approx. 0200 Catskill Command advised Greene County 911 that the fire was out with extensive overhaul in progess.


The following Departments assisted Catskill Fire:
  • Hudson Fire
  • Athens Fire
  • West Athens Fire
  • Leeds Fire
  • Greene County Fire Coordinators
  • Catskill Ambulance
  • Greene County Paramedic
  • Catskill Polics Department
  • Greene County Fire Investigation Team
  • NYSP BCI

June

June 22, 2009 - Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention

Catskill Fire attended the 120th Annual Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention competing with 125 companies from 16 counties ranging from Westchester and Rockland up to Essex County. Catskill Fire did very well placing in 3 categories:

  • 1st Place Color Guard
  • 4th Place Best Appearing Unit in a Bloused Uniform with 27 - 36 Members in line
  • Best Overall Auxiliary

Congratulations to the Officers and Members who took the time to prepare for and participate in the parade. We are looking forward to attending the 121st Hudson Valley Convention.

June 22, 2009 - FASNY Ride

East Coast Riders and the Red Knights of Columbia County are having a bike run for the FASNY Museum in September. For more information please visit the FASNY Museum Website.

June 3, 2009 - Catskill Fire handles Commercial Structure

At approx 0530 hours May 30, 2009 Greene County 911 dispatched Catskill Fire to a reported smoke condition/possible structure fire at the Elks Lodge on North Jefferson Ave. Just after dispatch Cairo Car 4-2 Raymond Feml arrived on scene and reported fire showing from the rear of the building around the vent system. Upon the arrival of Catskill Fire Car 3-20 confirmed a working structure fire and requested Hudson E3-0 as a "FAST" truck, West Athens Fire, Leeds Fire & Athens Fire to the scene with manpower. Members of Catskill Fire made an aggressive fire attack and came across a heavy smoke condition with heavy fire in the drop ceiling area. The building measured approx. 120 x 80 with most of the fire located in the kitchen area and in the entire drop ceiling area. Catskill Command Car 3-10, Jack Ormerod Sr., requested Hudson Fire place (3) FAST crews at three different locations due to the size of the building. Due to the amount of fire and building size and with the danger of the fire making contact with the other part of the building a trench cut was placed between both buildings to act as a fire break. With the trench cut, several hose lines placed into operations and a vent hole above the seat of the fire the fire was knocked down in approx. 1 hour. After the main body of fire was knocked down command released 2 of the FAST teams and placed them into service to assist with overhaul.

Departments at the scene were Catskill Fire, W. Athens Fire, Athens Fire, Leeds Fire, Hudson Fire, Catskill Ambulance, G/C Fire Coordinator's Office, G/C Sheriff's Office, NYS Police Troop "F". Kiskatom Fire was placed on standby at the Catskill Central Station. While on standby Kiskatom Fire handled a AAPI on West Main St. in the Village of Catskill.

June 3, 2009 - Firefighter 1 Graduates

Catskill Fire would like to Congratulate all the FF1 students in the Spring 2009 Class, in particular CFC's Pam Wright & Nick Overbaugh. GOOD LUCK to all. Graduates and Article


May

May 30, 3009 - Catskill Fire handles Commercial Structure

At approx 0530 hours on May 30, 2009 Greene County 911 dispatched Catskill Fire to a reported smoke condition/possible structure fire at the Elkss Lodge on North Jefferson Ave. Just after dispatch Cairo Car 4-2 Raymond Feml arrived on scene and reported fire showing from the rear of the building around the vent system. Upon the arrival of Catskill Fire Car 3-20 confirmed a working structure fire and request Hudson E3-0 as a "FAST" truck, West Athens Fire, Leeds Fire & Athens Fire to the scene with manpower. Members of Catskill Fire made an aggressive fire attack and came across a heavy smoke condition with heavy fire in the drop ceiling area. The building measured approx. 120 x 80 with most of the fire located in the kitchen area and in the entire drop ceiling area. Catskill Command Jack Ormerod Sr. requested Hudson Fire place (3) FAST crews at three different location due to the size of the building. Due to the amount of fire, building size and the danger of the fire making contact with the other part of the building a trench cut was placed between both buildings to act as a fire break. With the trench cut, several hose lines placed into operations and a vent hole above the seat of the fire, the fire was knocked down in approx. 1 hour. After the main body of fire was knocked down command released 2 of the FAST teams and placed then into service to assist with overhaul.


Departments at the scene were:
  • Catskill Fire
  • West Athens Fire
  • Athens Fire
  • Leeds Fire
  • Hudson Fire
  • Catskill Ambulance
  • G/C Fire Coordinator's Office
  • G/C Sheriff's Office
  • NYS Police Troop "F"

Kiskatom Fire was placed on standby at the Catskill Central Station. While on standby Kiskatom Fire handled a AAPI on West Main St. in the Village of Catskill.


March

March 14, 2009 - New Truck Announcement

Chief Jack Ormerod Sr., of the Catskill Fire Department recently took delivery of this 95 Ft. Sutphen seasoned aerial platform. The apparatus features a new Sutphen cab and chassis, new all stainless steel body, Hale 1500 GPM pump and Smart Power 6 KW generator. The department requested a Federal Q Siren, complete LED light package and a back up camera. This is considered a refurbished aerial platform but titled 2008 saving the fire department thousands of dollars

March 9, 2009 - Fatal AAPI Route 9W Town of Athens

At approx. 1500 hrs March 9, 2009 Greene County 911 dispatched West Athens Fire, Catskill Ambulance, Greene County Medic, Greene County Sheriff’s Office & NYSP to a serious AAPI with entrapment Route 9W near the Athens Gen. West Athens Fire Chief 27-0 requested Greene County 911 dispatch Catskill Fire with Rescue 3-16 and extrication equipment due to the report of positive entrapment. West Athens Fire Chief 27-0 arrived on scene moments later and reported a 2 car AAPI serious in nature. One subject involved in the A/A died as a result of his injuries. The other subjects involved in the A/A were transported to local hospitals.

West Athens Fire, Catskill Ambulance, Greene County Medics, Greene Cty SO, NYSP troop “F”, Catskill Fire, Coxsackie Ambulance, Greene County Fire Coordinators Office and the Greene County EMS Coordinators Office were all on scene.

Video Footage from the Scene

March 5, 2009 - Residential Chimney Fire

Catskill Fire was dispatched by Greene County 911 at approx. 1450 hrs to 23 Cedar St. in the Village of Catskill for a chimney fire. Catskill Fire Chief Jack Ormerod Sr. arrived on scene and reported a working chimney fire and requested Hudson tower 3-2 to the scene. There was no extension to the building and the fire was confined to the chimney. Hudson tower 3-2 deployed to the roof to assist with fire suppression and overhaul. There were no injuries reported and the scene was turned over to the village of Catskill Building Inspector.

March 3, 2009 - Commercial Structure Fire

Greene County 911 dispatched Catskill Fire along with several mutual aid companies from Greene, Columbia and Ulster to tackle a commercial structure fire at 22 Browns Crossing Rd in the Town of Catskill March 3, 2008 at approx 1820 hrs. Catskill Fire 2nd Asst. Chief Paul Ormerod Jr. was the first to arrive on scene and reported a well involved commercial structure fire with multiple vehicles involved. The fire is currently under investigation by the NYS Police BCI unit (Troop "F")


February

February 27, 2009 - AAPI Rollover

Catskill Fire, Catskill Ambulance and Greene EMS were dispatched by Greene County 911 at approx. 2345 hrs February 27, 2009 for a one car AAPI rollover with entrapment. The accident occurred on the Rt23 east bound off ramp to Rt23B in the Town of Catskill. Upon the arrival of the first police unit it was determined that the driver of the vehicle had died as a result of his injuries and was trapped in the vehicle. Catskill Ambulance and Greene County medic transported the male passanger of the vehicle to CMH for evaluation. The New York State Police Troop "F" investigated the accident and the Greene County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene.

February 17, 2009 - Athens FD Purchases Truck 3-15

The Catskill Fire Company would like to congratulate and thank the Athens Fire Department for their purchase of T3-15. Delivery will be made on Wednesday February 25, 2009.

The new Catskill Ladder truck went to the Supthen factory in Monticello, NY on Thursday February 5, 2009 for an inspection and customization for the CFC. Delivery is scheduled for Friday February 27, 2009.

February 8, 2009 - Structure Fire in Leeds

At approx. 1710 hrs Leeds Fire Dept was dispatched by Greene County 911 for a well involved structure fire on Route 23B Leeds Town of Catskill across from the Xtra Mart. While en-route to the call Leeds Car 17-10 requested Catskill Fire be placed on standby in their quarters. Once Car 17-10 arrived on scene minutes after requesting Catskill Fire be placed on standby confirmed a well involved structure fire and now requested Catskill Fire with manpower to the scene. Leeds Command requested 1 ETA from West Athens relocate to the Leeds Fire Station for standby duty.

Greene County Fire Coordinators Office, Greene County Cause & Origin Team, Greene County Sheriff's Office, Greene County Highway Dept, NYS Police Troop "F", Town of Catskill Ambulance, Greenport Rescue Scene Support Unit, & Village of Catskill Water Dept. were all on the scene to assist.


January

January 27, 2009 - Letter From Chief

To all,

I as the Department Chief would like to thank all the committee men and the village of Catskill board of trustees for a job well down. The village did a great job on getting the best financing for the new tower and the committee did a great job on finding the best truck that would fit our needs here in the village as well as in the town.
On Jan 26th 2009 the board of trustees passed the financing and signed the contract for the new tower. We now have a delivery date of Feb 20, 2009.

Thank you,
Jack Ormerod
Chief
Department of Fire

January 26, 2009 - "Cab, Cop or Coffin – Your Choice – Don't Drink and Drive"

Last year the Village of Catskill, NY Fire Department, the City of Hudson FD and other Departments participated in showing our support for our neighboring Counties to the North. Let's continue to show our support by participating in the the tribute campaign for Wilton Chief Bill Morgan.

"Cab, Cop or Coffin – Your Choice – Don't Drink and Drive"

Last year this campaign began as a tribute to First Assistant Chief Bill Morgan of the Wilton Fire Department who was seriously injured by an intoxicated driver and for all other public safety professionals who put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis. The four county campaign to get the message out about the dangers surrounding DWI and the risk that everyone in our communities face on a regular basis from this senseless, selfish act was a huge success and they wanted to build on that success continuing the initiative again this year.

January 18, 2009 - Smoke Condition on Highland Ave.

On January 18, 2009 at approx. 10:00am Catskill Fire was dispatched to two incidents. The first incident was a pump out at 103 North Street and the second a Smoke Condition in a structue at 12 Highland Avenue.

While enroute to the smoke condition Catskill Fire units were advised by Greene County Emergency Control that Catskill Police were on the scene and reporting a "heavy smoke" condition in the basement and through the structure. Catskill Truck 3-15 was first to arrive on scene and Catskill Command was established by the Captain (Portable 3 - 3). Upon arrival Catskill Fire confirmed the report from Catskill Police after finding smoke and a burning odor in the structure. With minimal manpower and weather conditions at the initial dispatch along with the size up report Catskill Command requested Athens Fire with ETA 2-4 and M2-5 and the City of Hudson with E3-0 with there FAST team to the scene. Catskill ETA 3-12 tagged a hydrant near the scene and stretched a 1 3/4" hand line to the front door. Catskill E3-21 stood by at a hydrant at State Route 9W and Highland Avenue.

Initial interor Crews under the direction of 2nd Lietenant (Portable 3-5) found 2 issues leading to the smoke condition. The first was an obstruction in the flue of the chimmney. The second being an electrical box that shorted out, charring the box and burning the wires inside which also resulted in the circuit breaker being tripped. Ventilation was performed using PPV Fans. Truck 3-15 remained on the scene until the Village of Catskill Code Enforcement arrived. All Catskill units were in service at approx. 11:30am.

Catskill Command cancelled Athens Fire and the City of Hudson Fire shortly after initial crews confirmed the source of the smoke.

Units Responding:
  • Catskill Fire: T3-15, E3-21, ETA3-11, ETA3-12, R3-16
  • Athens Fire: Car 2-10, Car 2-20, E2-4, M2-5
  • Hudson Fire: Car 1, Car 2, Car 3, E3-0
  • Greene Car 4

January 5, 2009 - Structure Fire in the Town of Athens

At approx. 0820 on Jan 5, 2009 West Athens Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire by Greene County 911. The fire location was on Schoharie Turnpike in the Town of Athens. Upon arrival of West Athens car 27-0 confirmed a large commercial building fire and requested Catskill Fire with T3-15 and Athens Fire with ETA 2-4. During the height of the fire West Athens command made additional requests for Catskill Fire with (2) ETA's, Leeds Fire to relocate to West Athens Station 2 and (1) tanker from Earlton Fire to the scene. Catskill Fire Car 3-10 requested Kiskatom Fire and Hudson Fire Tower 3-2 relocate to Catskill's Central station for standby duty.

During the fire on Schoharie Turnpike, Catskill Fire along with Kiskatom and Hudson were dispatched to 2 different calls in Catskill. Both calls were service related and did not require any fire Department activity.

January 4, 2009 - Guestbook launched

We've launched a Guestbook! Please use this area to post your opinions or suggestions and respond to other posts. We look forward to reading your comments.

Jan. 1, 2009 - New Year, New Officers

With the start of the new year the new line officers assume their responsibilities.

Department Chief: Jack Ormerod Sr.
1st Assistant Chief: Jonathan Dees
2nd Assistant Chief: Paul Ormerod Jr.
Captain: Harold Rivenburgh
1st Lieutenant: Randy Ormerod
2nd Lieutenant: Barry Sheil III
Safety Officer: Glenn Kazanjian
Training Officer: Robert Wade
Fire Police Captain: Ronald Smith