CFI609D

Nick has handled himself with dignity and restraint, given that this is a situation that has been ongoing for so long. Irvington has been most fortunate to have a firefighter so dedicated to a culture of firefighter safety. You clearly do not know him or much about the circumstances if you believe he "should leave the area." He did nothing at all wrong and has worked within the chain of command. I only wish we had more people like him.

Nick has handled himself with dignity and restraint, given that this is a situation that has been ongoing for so long. Irvington has been most fortunate to have a firefighter so dedicated to a culture of firefighter safety. You clearly do not know him or much about the circumstances if you believe he "should leave the area." He did nothing at all wrong and has worked within the chain of command. I only wish we had more people like him.

Nick has handled himself with dignity and restraint, given that this is a situation that has been ongoing for so long. Irvington has been most fortunate to have a firefighter so dedicated to a culture of firefighter safety. You clearly do not know him or much about the circumstances if you believe he "should leave the area." He did nothing at all wrong and has worked within the chain of command. I only wish we had more people like him.

Nick has handled himself with dignity and restraint, given that this is a situation that has been ongoing for so long. Irvington has been most fortunate to have a firefighter so dedicated to a culture of firefighter safety. You clearly do not know him or much about the circumstances if you believe he "should leave the area." He did nothing at all wrong and has worked within the chain of command. I only wish we had more people like him.

I'm a member of IFD with 20 plus years and at this point if I did not have to remain a member of the company to remain in the Department I would have already left. I can already hear the company officers saying then leave. I was Chief when this incident took place. That should identify me! First I will Apoligize to Nyq for how he was treated and say I wish I could have done more for you as Chief. At least the Village waited until I was out of office to ask you to resign. It's is actually interesting how you co-existed for almost a year and a half after you resigned from the company and remained with the Department with no issues. If the company did not decide to go non profit (or make it legal) Nyq would probably still be active in the department.Why is the company opening up additional corporations now? I also will say I'm embarrassed at the way the Company states they investigated? they agreed to let the villages investigate as one company officer stated. The Company is a separate entity(With separate company officers) occupying space in a village building should they not have an obloigation(legal) to investigate all claims of misconduct, sexual harrasment etc are they exempt from EEO laws? I took this complaint to the village after I discussed it with a Village trustee who was in attendance at the meeting when Nyq made his claim (I arrived at this meeting late from work however I did hear the tape from the meeting it was disgraceful) and was told if I did not bring the complaint to the village he would have to.I was critized by some of the membership even though as a elected village official I had a legal obligation to bring these claims forward maybe the company needs additional EEO training. I know after this incident we had a couple of hours I'm not sure it's enough. At least the Village's investigation was completed almost over a year and a half later. I think we in the all volunteer services know know how hard it is to find and retain good volunteers or even get our current members to respond as much as they are need. When the Village was trying to find the law that eliminated Nyq from the from the company I made a suggestion to the village administrator and one member of the current board that would have kept these issues in house I hope they and the other board members will do all they can to help find a solution to retain all the volunteers it can. If not I see it as a huge disservice to the Village residents. To the Current Chiefs especially Chief. Ruffler and Assistant Chief DePaoli I will apoligize now for any issues I will cause with this post. I will also thank you both for giving me 110 percent as my assistant Chiefs and only hope that once this is resolved I can continue to serve you and the village residents. As many of the posts state there a many quailfied firefighters in the IFD. Why should it not do eveything it can to retain and recruit all additional members.

Agreed. Obviously I don't begrudge a department for holding some social events for its members, that's good for morale. But I do have a BIG problem, with a department that spends money on wetdowns, parties, etc. But won't pay for any training beyond Fire 1 and the other basic required certifications. Not that I'm saying Irvington does this, but I know a few departments that do.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Izzy: I can understand why you are confused about what it means to be a member of a fire company, as Connecticut does not have the same crazy system as in NY. In Irvington, as in many municipal (village) fire departments there are two organizations operating in tandem:
1. Fire Department
2. "fire company"
The department Anyone from Irvington out there who can answer that question? What about you CFI609D....you got an answer? Good question that deserves to be answered! just that: the official Department funded by and accountable to the municipality (in this case the incorporated Village of Irvington). The fire chief is its chief executive and reports to the Mayor and Trustees.
The "fire company", however, does not provide and fire protection function. It is a "social services and benevolent organization" run by a President, Vice President, etc. It is essentially not accountable to anyone, and it does not serve any direct emergency service function. It is not a fire company in the sense of a traditional engine ladder or rescue company. It is a social organization for the members of the department.
What has happened in Irvington is that Nick originally resigned from the company but was told he could remain a member of the department. The issue here is the law being cited by the village attorney which they say requires him to remain a member of the "fire company." Nick is trying to remain an active member of the department, but he has no desire to be a member of the social organization. I will leave it to him to explain his reasoning, though I will say that you would be hard-pressed to find a finer, ore committed or more professional first responder. I hope we can get him back on line soon as his community needs him.
I hope this helps clarify what is already a complicated and very confusing situation.

Nicoli's decisions have left his home community with 1 less life-saver. For those of you that don't know, he has been awarded numerous life saving awards as well as a congressional level award from Congresswoman Dr. Nan Hayworth last month. It is unfortunate that internal FD politics have resulted in his decision to no longer be a firefighter.
I don't think my own community as a whole is aware of the separation between the the company and the district functions, as mirrored in one of the comments above. I certainly did not understand this for several years after becoming a FF/EMT.
When we hold fundraising events such as a "boot drive", we get dressed in our PPE and hold out fire boots for motorists to donate money to our cause.... "OUR CAUSE?" Unless they have a personal connection to the FD, I doubt that any significant percentage of the donators understand that this $ is NOT going towards training, equipment or operational readiness. This is straight up false advertising. And I am personally sickened by it. I've told my friends and family that donated money annually to the fire dept through the companies annual fund drive, to stop.
I have witnessed repeatedly over the years, tens of thousands of dollars getting spent by my company on parades, annual dinners, installation dinners, christmas parties, etc... And simultaneously get turned down for much needed equipment and stonewalled on training funds by the fire commission. Although these are two separate entities, there seems to be something very very wrong with this. I did not join the FD to drink beer either. I did not join to go to parades.
Ask yourselves: are you going through more cans of ZEP and tubs of turtle wax than saw blades and saw fuel? Our pride should not come from how shiney and clean our trucks are, but rather how dirty and trashed our gear is from having training with it so much. I believe that if we prioritize the trophies that go in a glass case over what we actually signed up to do, we are more likely to end up in a pine box.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Great post! It's comforting to know that there are people in the olunteer fire service such as yourself who have their priorities right and are willing to speak up about how horribly wrong and deceitful the system can be to unknowing taxpayers who make donations, thinking they are going to legitimate fire protection assets, training, etc., and have no idea that these monies in fact go to parties, parades, and nonsense.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

Nick didn't "bail out": he resigned from the "company" which is actually a social services and benevolent organization. At the time he was told by the village that he could do so. After seeking additional legal opinions, however, the village later rescinded its original opinion and he was told that he would have to rejoin the social services organization to remain an active firefighter, and that is where the dispute took off. Nick has been afforded the opportunity to rejoin the "company" but Nick has refused to do so as it against his principles and he sees the company as a source of much of the hostility directed towards him.
Nick is an outstanding firefighter and has been an incredible asset to the community. He is well known to all of the instructors in our region thanks to his dedication to training and mastering all aspects of firefighting. And yes, he is also very principled and refuses to compromise those principles. While I do not always agree with Nick, I have enormous respect for him. It is a shame that this has transpired and I hope that resolution will take place.
This law cited requiring members of a village fire department to also be members of a non-firematic social services organization calling thmselves a fire company is most unfortunate, and it is archaic. 150 years ago there were legit reasons to force firefighters be members of a company. But in this day and age where you have a municipal fire department and the company is no more than a social services entity (as is the case in Irvington, where the company has ZERO fire or emergency services role), this needs to be changed. I hope that perhaps this situation will prove to be a positive catalyst and that it will push lawmakers to reexamine obsolete and meaningless laws like this one.

It seems that he feels the best way he can be of service to his community is to take the actions he has taken in order to expose the unfortunate reality of the situation and perhaps galvanize the community as well as other FD members behind some real change.

We encountered this situation. According to the municipallity's legal counsel a foreign citizen may serve as long as they are in the US legally and have the appropriate visa status (such as an H1 or similar visa) which grants the holder the right to work.

You are correct: FF Frank Lacalamita (pictured) and FF William Perritt were both promoted to Captain. Biilly is currently at the FDNY First Line Supervisors ("FLIP") School and Frank will follow soon after.
Congrats to DC Kelly and Captains Perritt & Lacalamita on their well deserved promotions!

You are correct: FF Frank Lacalamita (pictured) and FF William Perritt were both promoted to Captain. Biilly is currently at the FDNY First Line Supervisors ("FLIP") School and Frank will follow soon after.
Congrats to DC Kelly and Captains Perritt & Lacalamita on their well deserved promotions!