West Webster Fire Department
The West Webster Fire District provides fire protection, emergency medical response and rescue services to the west side of the town of Webster and the northwest portion of the town of Penfield. Our boundaries run roughly from Irondequoit Bay east to 980 Ridge Road and then from Lake Ontario to just south of Embury Road in Penfield.
Since its inception, this department has taken on more capabilities to meet the growing population and challenges. No longer just fighting fires, the more than one hundred volunteers also provide Rescue, Basic Life Support transport and community education to the residents of the fire district. Firefighters answered over 2600 calls for service in 2008.
Service to the community is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with dedicated volunteers and career EMT’s staffing 4 pumpers, 1 ladder truck, 1 rescue, 2 ambulances, 2 boats, a brush fire truck and numerous other support vehicles out of 3 fire stations. The district is rated by the Insurance Service Office (ISO) as a Class 3 department, with a Class 1 being the highest rating and 10 being the lowest. By being a Class 3, the department saves homeowners and businesses money on their fire insurance premiums. To better serve the community, the fire district opened a new station at the corner of Plank and State Roads in December of 2000. The district is also in the midst of construction on the new Station #2 at the corner of Dewitt Road and Backus Roads. This station replaces a 40 year old station and is compliant with all the latest building codes for accessibility. This new building will allow more efficient responses to incidents in the north end of the fire district and was constructed to allow firefighters more training opportunities inside that would normally be difficult to achieve in the winter. This new station is anticipated to be in operation in December of 2009.
Firefighters within the district provide multiple services to the residents and assistance to neighboring departments. West Webster firefighters regularly provide assistance to the surrounding departments, including Webster, Union Hill, Penfield, many of the Irondequoit departments and will now be assisting the City of Rochester on major fires. Fire suppression is actually one of our smaller roles, as there are fewer fires today. Emergency Medical responses comprise most of the responses, accounting for up to 75% of calls. Firefighters also respond to technical rescue situations, including vehicle extrications, rope rescues, water and ice rescues, as well as any number of other potential situations.
Firefighters are constantly training with evolutions taking place every Tuesday night and many others spread throughout the week and weekend. Each firefighter, no matter rank or years of service must have a minimum of 40 hours of in-service training each year. Many firefighters exceed 100 hours of training each year. Some have gone on to achieve New York State and National Certifications in areas such as technical rescue, hazardous materials response and incident command. These firefighters strive to be the best they can possibly be.
The volunteers come from all different walks of life and back grounds. They come in all shapes, sizes, ages and careers. These are truly neighbors helping neighbors.