Grand Island Fire Company, Inc. Website
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Previous Fire News
Lou & Reta D'Orazio Scholarship Winners - August 2024
Sabrina Butcher & Ellen Valera
The Grand Island Fire Company is proud to announce that two company members, Ellen Valera and Sabrina Butcher, have been selected by the D’Orazio family to each receive a $2,000 Lou and Reta D’Orazio Scholarship to support their 2024-2025 academic endeavors. The fire company members receiving the D’Orazio Scholarship are both currently enrolled in medical field programs in accredited institutions of higher learning, and both demonstrate a commitment to voluntary emergency service through their actions in the Grand Island Fire Company.To honor their parents’ commitment and legacy of helping people, the D’Orazio family funded and created a scholarship program to support Grand Island Fire Company (GIFC) members pursuing formal education in medical fields. Luigi “Lou” D’Orazio served as a Grand Island firefighter and advanced Emergency Medical Technician for 56 years. Lou’s wife, Reta, supported health initiatives and medical studies that advanced cardiac health in women. Lou and Reta were committed to helping others and to supporting community endeavors.
Having watched their parents’ dedication and contributions to caring for people, the D’Orazio family knows the hard work and significant time commitment it takes to be a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical responder. The Grand Island Fire Company members are all volunteers, working jobs and attending school, as they volunteer their time to respond to emergency calls and to attend fire and emergency medical training. The Lou and Reta D'Orazio Scholarship Fund assists GIFC members with financial support towards the pursuit of an advanced medical field of study, which in turn also helps the community. In 2021, the D’Orazio family donated funds to the Grand Island Fire Company to create the scholarship and in the past two years, the family has awarded four scholarships for a total of $5,000.
This year’s awardees are enrolled in nursing programs and are active first responders in Grand Island. Ellen Valera is enrolled at Erie Community College where she will be completing her nursing degree in May 2025. She has been an active member of the GIFC since 2018 and by 2022 she earned her Advanced Emergency Medical Technician license. Ellen’s work as an emergency medical responder for the fire company led her to pursuing a degree in the nursing medical field. As she completes her Registered Nurse certification, she will be looking into a bridge program to receive a paramedic license to further assist the community. Sabrina Butcher has entered the nursing studies program at SUNY Niagara - Niagara County Community College to pursue her Registered Nurse license. She attended the Erie 1 BOCES nursing program while in high school, as well as joined the fire company’s cadet program.
Sabrina has been active in the fire company for two and a half years and in that time has already earned her Emergency Medical Technician and Advanced Emergency Medical Technician licenses. Her active interest in helping people led her to join the volunteer fire service as well as pursue a career in the nursing field.
This was the intent of the D’Orazio family when starting the scholarship fund - to help as many people as they can - by supporting the medical education of the GIFC volunteers which in turn helps the community as a whole. Becky D’Orazio-Orton stated, "I am glad to be a part of this mission to help those who help others. May God Bless all the volunteers of our GIFC." The D’Orazio family is also very appreciative of how the community has supported the scholarship fund through personal donations. Lou and Reta were known and beloved by many in the community and such contributions help honor their legacy. To support the Lou and Reta D’Orazio Scholarship Fund, donations can be sent to the Grand Island Fire Company, 2275 Baseline Road, Grand Island, NY 14072.
Day Care Center Fire - June 2024
The afternoon of June 1, 2024, Grand Island Firefighters received notification of a heat detector set off at 2710 Grand Island Blvd at 12:47. Several GI units responded within minutes initially reporting nothing showing upon arrival. After a release of the Knox key and entry into the structure to verify, responding units found heavy heat and smoke within the building. Declaring a working fire, GI 9-2 established command, GI 9-3 took operations, and mutual aid requests were made for a fast team and backfill at Fire HQ.
A crew of 4 made entry into the building and started fire suppression with water on the fire. A separate crew of 3 made entry for search to ensure the building was unoccupied and empty, which concluded negative. Minutes later, a bulk of the fire was knocked down, and a crew was sent to the roof for ventilation. The crew on the roof was able to make way into the structure cutting through the heavy-metal roof and found fire still active in the roof void space above the ceiling but below the roof of the building. An attack line was activated within the structure as well as sent to the roof to attack the fire from both directions, above and below.
After contending with the unique structure and build of the roofline and further checking all roof voids for abstentions, the fire was out at 15:13. The fire was extinguished using 1 hydrant, connected to 1000ft of (3) 1-3/4” hand lines, streams from the 2 ariel devices, 144ft of ground ladder, and fed by 600ft of 4”. Early estimates declare 2-million dollars in damage to both the structure and contents as the scene was turned over to fire investigators from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.
A huge thanks to our mutual aid companies; Sheridan Park Fire, Ellicott Creek Fire, Kenmore Fire, Brighton Fire, City of Tonawanda Fire, Erie County Sheriff’s Office, and Twin City for your assistance. Additional thanks to Island Fun Center for bringing over a few cases of water for recovery. And thanks to our fire Dispatcher for keeping communications open with all companies. A special thanks to Squad 10, the Ladies Auxiliary for dispatching to the scene to further provide support and assistance to our exhausted crew!
Fire Company Celebrates 86th Anniversary - May 2024
This past Saturday, May 18th, Grand Island Fire Company members attended their 86 th Anniversary Dinner. President Ron Warner kicked the evening off by welcoming GIFC members, their guests, NYS Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, Town Supervisor Pete Marston, Town Council members, and guests from other neighboring fire departments.Board Chairman Jeremy Pullano shared the "State of the GIFC" thanking volunteers for their dedication to the community, day and night. To date, Grand Island volunteers have responded to 710 EMS and Fire related calls, putting Grand Island on-track with the number of incidents from past years.
Town Councilman Christian Bahleda expressed his thanks to both the volunteers for making a difference in our community, and to Chairman Pullano for working so closely with the Town board in supporting strength of synergy and communication between our organizations. Ladies auxiliary President Karen Dallessandro thanked her group of members for all they do in supporting the firefighters and presented the membership with a gift to the membership as a token of appreciation.
EMS Chief Robbie Meyer presented the EMS Award to 2nd Assistant Chief Zach Bernfeld and Captain Megan Stanley for their outstanding contributions to the field of emergency medical services. Zach’s commitment to serving the community as a top responder is truly commendable and his willingness to go above and beyond in helping others pass their EMT exams is a reflection of his commitment to the growth of the EMS program. Megan was one of the first members to be trained on the NYS iGel Pilot program and first to place 3 successful iGels in adult patients that were in cardiac arrest. This speaks to her exceptional skills and expertise, but alongside her dedication to improve patient outcomes that result in significant impact for the lives of those in need.
President Ron Warner presented the "President’s Award" to Lieutenant Tim Woroniecki Jr. for all the help and support he affords the President and the membership throughout the year.
