- By Dan Veaner
- News
Print 
Station 5 in the Village of Lansing isn't quite four years old, but the sprinkler system has caused flooding to the fire station twice in the past year.Lansing was just a little safer last year. Lansing Fire Department Chief Scott Purcell reported Tuesday that emergency calls were down in 2016 from previous years. Purcell pointed out that 407 of the 846 calls, or 48.11%, originated in the Village of Lansing. He stressed that the Village has averaged 47.32% of all calls in the district since 1993.
"For the month of December we had 30 fire calls, and 44 EMS calls for a total of 74," Purcell reported. "For the year there were 846. That's down from 967 last year."
In other actions, the Lansing Fire Commissioners elected 2017 officers Tuesday, and the lineup of chiefs for 2017 was approved.
.
Purcell reported the department received mutual aid from other fire departments 29 times last year. The Cayuga Heights Fire Department aided Lansing in 22 of those calls, and other agencies participated in 25. Lansing provided mutual aid 24 times, including eight Cayuga Heights calls, eight calls in Ithaca, and eight to other area departments.
Volunteer emergency responders are required to train vigorously. Lansing Fire Department members tok 2602 hours of training. The department offered 134 of Department Proficiency Training (DPT), averaging 11.16 hours per month. There were 546 sign-ins from department members conducting truck checks in 2016, averaging 10.5 each week.
Fire Commissioners are elected by district residents, then officers are elected by the commissioners. Robert Wagner will serve another term as Chairman of the Fire Commissioners. Larry Creighton will serve as vice-chairman, and Alvin Parker as Secretary. George Gesslein was re-appointed as District Treasurer.
Chiefs are elected by the members of the volunteer fire department, then must be approved by the commissioners. The commissioners voted to accept the re-election of all five officers: Purcell will continue as Chief, with Brad George also continuing as Deputy Chief. Dennis Griffin is 1st Assistant Chief, Todd Mix 2nd Assistant Chief , and Joe Lisi 3rd Assistant Chief.
Parker reported an insurance claim has been filed for flooding damage at the Oakcrest Road fire station just over two weeks ago, due to a faulty sprinkler head. That was the second flood at the district's newest fire station. Last Spring a pipe burst, causing damage to a ceiling and the floor. Among other repairs, carpet will have to be replaced at the fire station. Service Pro has already been at Station 5 to clean the mess.
"A head popped and it flooded again," Wagner said. "It's not as bad, because it didn't flood a lot of the ceiling. But it made a lot of mess on the floor."
Station 5 was built originally in 1972. In 2006 an ambitious plan to replace the building with a much larger fire station was halted when it turned out it would cost more than $2 million to build. The old station was too small to hold modern emergency equipment, including large fire trucks, was deteriorating, and was determined to be unsalvageable. A new plan to replace the building with a Morton-style building cost about $800,000. The building, constructed in 2012, has four equipment bays with individual garage doors, and a living facility for bunkers (volunteer fire department members who live at a fire station, encouraging membership and decreasing emergency response times.
Parker said an insurance adjuster visited Station 5 and provided an estimate of the damage. He said an evaluation of repairs needed was scheduled for the next day.
Purcell says the flood damage will not hamper the department's ability to use Station 5.
v13i1
In other actions, the Lansing Fire Commissioners elected 2017 officers Tuesday, and the lineup of chiefs for 2017 was approved.
.
Purcell reported the department received mutual aid from other fire departments 29 times last year. The Cayuga Heights Fire Department aided Lansing in 22 of those calls, and other agencies participated in 25. Lansing provided mutual aid 24 times, including eight Cayuga Heights calls, eight calls in Ithaca, and eight to other area departments.
Volunteer emergency responders are required to train vigorously. Lansing Fire Department members tok 2602 hours of training. The department offered 134 of Department Proficiency Training (DPT), averaging 11.16 hours per month. There were 546 sign-ins from department members conducting truck checks in 2016, averaging 10.5 each week.
Fire Commissioners are elected by district residents, then officers are elected by the commissioners. Robert Wagner will serve another term as Chairman of the Fire Commissioners. Larry Creighton will serve as vice-chairman, and Alvin Parker as Secretary. George Gesslein was re-appointed as District Treasurer.
Chiefs are elected by the members of the volunteer fire department, then must be approved by the commissioners. The commissioners voted to accept the re-election of all five officers: Purcell will continue as Chief, with Brad George also continuing as Deputy Chief. Dennis Griffin is 1st Assistant Chief, Todd Mix 2nd Assistant Chief , and Joe Lisi 3rd Assistant Chief.
Parker reported an insurance claim has been filed for flooding damage at the Oakcrest Road fire station just over two weeks ago, due to a faulty sprinkler head. That was the second flood at the district's newest fire station. Last Spring a pipe burst, causing damage to a ceiling and the floor. Among other repairs, carpet will have to be replaced at the fire station. Service Pro has already been at Station 5 to clean the mess.
"A head popped and it flooded again," Wagner said. "It's not as bad, because it didn't flood a lot of the ceiling. But it made a lot of mess on the floor."
Station 5 was built originally in 1972. In 2006 an ambitious plan to replace the building with a much larger fire station was halted when it turned out it would cost more than $2 million to build. The old station was too small to hold modern emergency equipment, including large fire trucks, was deteriorating, and was determined to be unsalvageable. A new plan to replace the building with a Morton-style building cost about $800,000. The building, constructed in 2012, has four equipment bays with individual garage doors, and a living facility for bunkers (volunteer fire department members who live at a fire station, encouraging membership and decreasing emergency response times.
Parker said an insurance adjuster visited Station 5 and provided an estimate of the damage. He said an evaluation of repairs needed was scheduled for the next day.
Purcell says the flood damage will not hamper the department's ability to use Station 5.
v13i1