Van Buren (WSYR-TV) – Fire departments in Memphis, Lakeside, Warners and Baldwinsville could all be working as one. That’s because the Town of Van Buren just released a study which calls for consolidation to save time and money.
There are more than 20 fire departments within a five mile radius of the town. The Van Buren Town Supervisor says the town would be better served with a regional fire service.
He says a lot of the departments overlap, but they also leave areas without any coverage at all.
“If we were to make Van Buren all one big fire district, and merge all those departments, training would be improved,” says Claude Sykes.
The study, put together by an independent consultant, says there should be a regional fire service, made up of five towns: Camillus, Geddes, Lysander, Elbridge and Van Buren.
The Baldwinsville and Lakeside Fire Departments agree consolidation is the wave of the future but think smaller steps need to be taken within each town before they merge.
Both point to the joint Baldwinsville/ Lakeside station in Van Buren.
“If there was an alarm today, we could draw manpower from two station, combine apparatus and there is no duplication,” explained Lakeside Fire Chief Tim Wolsey.
The town Supervisor is looking to gain support from local fire departments and expects to meet with the County Executive’s office this summer.
