Greg Sitek, President UMT

UMT President Greg Sitek addressed the board at their October business meeting regarding a recent town resolution that was passed asking the New York Power Authority to resume funding of emergency first responders on NYPA property in the Town of Lewiston. Here is a copy of his statement:

Dear Lewiston Town Board Members,

My name is Greg Sitek, I am a taxpayer, a firefighter, an EMT, and President of Upper Mt. Volunteer Fire Company. I am joined this evening by Upper Mt. Chief Daniel Leven. We are here representing Upper Mt. Fire Company to discuss Resolution 2013-17, which was adopted by the Town Board on October 7 by a unanimous vote.

That resolution asks the state government to compel the New York Power Authority to help fund the town’s fire and police services.

As emergency responders, the first lesson we are taught about approaching ANY situation is to do a complete scene size-up, also known as a 360. The purpose of a 360 is to gather as much information as possible before hastily rushing into a situation. 

It is done not only for our safety, but the safety of everyone involved.  

You see, even when acting with the best intentions, moving forward without having all the facts can cause unintended damage. We are concerned that the Town Board didn’t do a 360 before adopting this resolution. As a result, Upper Mt. Fire Co. and other fire companies that respond to calls on New York Power Authority property were taken by complete surprise when we learned of the resolution AFTER it was passed.

Upper Mt. Fire Company was not contacted by ANY MEMBER of the Town Board regarding this resolution, or to ascertain what our needs are. Yet our name ‘Upper Mountain Fire Company’ appears in 5 of the 12 arguments for funding stated in this resolution. 

It’s nice when someone asks how they can help us. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen here.  As a result, this resolution misrepresents some facts with respect to Upper Mt. Fire Company’s preparedness and response, as well as our relationship with the New York Power Authority.

Two obvious examples: FIRST. The resolution references a 2012 turbine fire to which we responded at NYPA. It was, in fact, a transformer fire. There’s a big difference.  The resolution also inaccurately states that we fought a fire that in fact, had already been extinguished by the time the first engine (Upper Mt 26E1) arrived on scene. 

SECONDLY. The resolution also says Upper Mountain has responsibility for providing Rural/Metro ambulance services.  Rural/Metro DOES NOT provide ambulance services to the Town of Lewiston — Upper Mountain and other volunteer fire companies do. For reference, in 2012, Upper Mountain answered 1,032 calls for emergency medical services.

In 2007, when NYPA was barred from disbursing funds to the fire companies, UMT and all the responding agencies started meeting with them to develop and present a 10-year plan to address our needs. In fact, over the past several years we have enjoyed a constructive working relationship with local Power Authority representatives, who have helped us in planning and staging exercises for emergency situations that could occur on their property.

Upper Mountain has needs for equipment that our current town contract will NEVER cover.  Like you, we would welcome additional support for emergency responders from the Power Authority, just as we would welcome support from Mount St. Mary’s Hospital or the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge – two other entities that require, but don’t contribute to our fire protection and ambulance services.

If the town is to ask the state government to compel NYPA to provide that support, we believe Upper Mountain and the other responding agencies should be included in the process to ensure the accuracy of the ask, and the effective deployment of any equipment received as a result.

Until this occurs, we ask that you rescind Resolution 2013-17.

Upper Mountain Fire Company members volunteer our time to respond to emergencies 24/7/365 at one of the busiest volunteer fire companies in the entire county. We do it to help people we don’t even know in their most desperate times.

In the future, if you want to talk about something this important, I would invite you to pick up the phone and contact myself or chief Leven.  We would be happy to work with you to secure additional equipment to help to meet the town’s emergency response needs.

Sincerely,
Greg Sitek
President, Upper Mt. Fire Co.