By Fred Friedman
The city has agreed to pay insurance for all volunteer firehouses throughout the city, saving the Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Department from closing, said Councilman Lew Fidler. The agreement will enable the volunteer companies in the city to continue to operate for another year.
“We are, to say the least, very happy about getting funded,” said John Czap, chief elect of the Gerritsen Beach department. “This is the closest we’ve come to being closed down”
Fidler said the delay was a result of a glitch in processing the paper work on time and said the communities can count on continuing to rely on the volunteer companies serving their respective jurisdictions.
The firehouse is in a small, almost non-descript building that sits on Seba Avenue off Gerritsen Avenue. It is nestled between two modest houses. Inside is a fire truck and an ambulance as well as a small office where Rita White dispatches calls for help.
White has been the dispatcher at the department for 15 years. However, this year, due to the city’s economic troubles, there were lingering concern in the community that the department would have to be closed because of the city’s potential unwillingness to pay for these department’s insurance.
“This department means everything to the community,” said White. Everyone is nice and we run events for people. The neighborhood loves us.”
It costs $30,000 a year to insure the Gerritsen Beach department. The insurance is necessary to protect fireman who may be injured on the job. It is required by state law.
The Gerritsen facility opened in 1922, and maintains 15 to 30 members who respond to alarms that sound in the event of an emergency. The department also trains emergency medical technicians who can potentially save lives while transporting the sick to a local hospital.
The department, the only one of its kind in Brooklyn, was saved from the prospect of having to close its doors due to the failure of the city to renew its insurance coverage for its members.
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