RVC Fire Department going strong

Some fire departments on Long Island are facing a shortage of volunteers, which is affecting both their ambulance and fire response services.

But the Rockville Centre Fire Department is going strong. In fact, the RVCFD, with more than 340 members, boasts the largest membership of any volunteer department in New York state.

“One of the things that helps us recruit is that we have five firehouses and seven companies,” said John Mirando, spokesman for the fire department. “They’re spread out through the village somewhat.”

Mirando said that one of the things that helps Rockville Centre’s fire department stand out and keep successfully recruiting when many others are starting to wane is its Junior Firefighters Program. Mirando helped spearhead the program three years ago. It allows kids 13-17 to join the fire department as juniors. They don’t go out to active fires, but they do get to spend time at the firehouses, learn the basics and run drills with the firefighters.

“Once a year, they go out to the Nassau County fire training center in Bethpage,” Mirando said, “and they do ladder climbing, stretching hoses, search and rescue in dark rooms.”

Though the Juniors program only started three years ago, three members have already graduated from the program and joined the RVCFD. There are currently 21 teens now in the program.

Another thing that Mirando thinks is bringing in younger members to the RVCFD is the fact that young members can attend Nassau Community College for free.

Many members also join the RVCFD, Mirando said, because they see all of the other activities the department participates in.

“There’s a lot of athletic stuff: softball, running tournaments and things like that,” said Mirando. “It attracts guys. They say, “That looks fun. I want to do that.’ That’s what I did.”

Though the department is the largest in the state, it’s still hard to always meet the demand of the village.

“Our biggest issue is daytime rescue calls because of the pure volume,” Mirando said. “Which is why the village contracts with North Shore-LIJ [ambulance services] during the day. We don’t have as many people who can leave their businesses and go on these calls.”

The fire department’s success comes not so much from the fact that it has grown over the years, but from the fact that it hasn’t shrank.

“If you go through the rosters in the companies, you’ll see the same names through grandfathers, fathers and sons,” Mirando said, himself a legacy firefighter. “There’s a lot of family tradition, which helps in Rockville Centre.”