Well more than 400 volunteers make up emergency responders in area
By Deborah Rose
Volunteers are an integral part of any community.
And when it comes to volunteer emergency responders in a community, they are the very backbone of emergency services.
They are the ones who respond to accidents, fires, national disasters, environmental concerns, threats, and more.
They act selflessly to protect life and property without seeking recognition or pay.
Volunteer emergency responders in the Greater New Milford area will be honored for their selflessness, dedication and outstanding service Jan. 25 with a special Silver Resilience Award recognizing them for their outstanding dedication and service to the community.
The awards will be presented by the Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce at its 25th Annual Awards Gala black-tie optional dinner-dance at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury Jan. 25.
“Our first responders are an amazing group of people who help protect our town and our residents, business community and those working or visiting here,” said New Milford Mayor Pete Bass.
“When there is an emergency, most people run away from the emergency,” he said. “Our first responders run towards the emergency.”
Fire departments and EMS in New Milford, Northville, Gaylordsville, Sherman, Bridgewater, Roxbury, Washington, Kent will be honored at the gala.
In addition, New Milford CERT and New Milford Community Ambulance will be recognized.
The theme of this year’s gala is “25 Years of Resilience,” given this is the 25th gala.
“We cannot express enough how invaluable our community’s volunteer emergency responders are,” Chamber Executive Director Bob Reiling said. “They are there every minute of the day for us. They exude courage and demonstrate resilience.”
“The past 25 years have been laden with key events such as 9/11, the 2007-08 economic crisis and the Covid pandemic, among others,” said Reiling. “The Chamber and the majority of local businesses are still standing through all of those trying times.”
One group of individuals that has been affected by many of those key events, specifically 9/11 and the Covid pandemic, are first responders.
“When the committee thought about all that has happened in the past 25 years, we not only thought about how events impacted businesses, we recognized how they effected volunteer first responders,” Reiling said, explaining how the Silver Resilience Award came about.
Two other awards will be given, as they have been each year by the Chamber – the Distinguished Chamber Member Award for a business – this year, Agiventures Agway, also known as New Milford Agway – and the Distinguished Community Member Award – this year, Ivan Shiffman.
HUMILITY
Gaylordsville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tyler Bergemann, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 30-plus years, said he does what he does because he loves it, and he wants to help others.
“We don’t do what we do to be recognized,” he said of being an active firefighter.
His interest in dedicating his life as a volunteer began when, as a junior firefighter he responded to a fire at a local business in Gaylordsville.
The then-young Bergemann was impacted profoundly by the fire. He not only worked part time at the business, but he was on the scene with his firefighter-father and others he knew closely who were battling the blaze.
“I knew then, I really wanted to help people” and being a firefighter was how he wanted to devote his time, he esaid.
While he is a volunteer at GVFD, he is retired from Danbury Fire Department, having been Deputy Fire Marshal.
Water Witch Chief Sean Delaney humbly described his appreciation for the community at large for what it does for Water Witch.
“The sense of community can often be more important than what we do because it shows the members they’re so appreciated,” he said. “And that goes in part to the resilience of New Milford.”
“When we are faced with some sort of adversity, people come together and come out of the woodwork and offer their resources,” he said, citing as a few examples, tree companies that come out to clear roads so emergency responders can get to a scene and individuals that drop off food and water to the firehouse to show their support and express their gratitude.
“The guys hear [thank you] so many times….but they don’t necessarily know the impact they have,” Delaney said.
“I think it’s amazing to be recognized by the Chamber, and to be included in the organization’s membership,” the chief said.
Many of the department’s members are business owners that have, like others, faced adversities over the past 25 years.
“But [the department has] continued to get the job done and we’ve had success in our mission to protect life and property… through the help of the community and [during and after COVID] through American Rescue Plan Act,” he said.
Bridgewater Fire Department Chief John Stietzel said the Chamber recognition is an honor.
“We appreciate it,” Stietzel said. “It’s nice PR between the towns [being recognized] because we all rely on each other and we’re all friends.”
Stietzel, who grew up in New Milford and now resides in Bridgewater, described the towns as small, places where “everyone knows everyone.”
“We all depend on each other and when we need the backup, they’re there,” he said.
Washington native Craig Wilber has been a volunteer fireman for 29 years and is now fire chief.
One of his scoutmasters when he was a youth in then-Boy Scouts (now Scouting America) was the town’s fire chief and recruited him to get involved with the department.
Today, giving back to his hometown is meaningful.
“It’s a way for me to give back to my community, other than financial means,” Wilber said. “My time is valuable and by doing this, it promotes a strong sense of community, and it gives the next generation of townspeople a chance to say, ‘Hey, maybe this a route I might want to go,’ whether it’s in the department, or town government.”
Rob Chernak said he is proud to serve as chief of the Warren Volunteer Fire Co. Having grown up in town, he appreciates being able to “give back to the community.”
His grandfather was a member of the ambulance crew and his father was active in the fire department.
He related that some of the draw to being a firefighter when he was younger was the “excitement,” however, now it’s “100 percent giving back” and “wanting to keep the traditions of the fire company going.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Over the past few decades, the number of volunteer emergency responders has decreased, causing some towns to hire a limited number of paid first responders.
Both New Milford and Kent have some paid emergency responders, as cited in the statistics below.
Well more than 400 volunteers make up first responders in the Greater New Milford area.
New Milford
Its fire houses – Water Witch, which includes Grove Street and Lanesville house, Northville, and Gaylordsville – are all 100 percent volunteer.
Its EMS is New Milford Community Ambulance Corp.
Water Witch has been all volunteer since its founding in 1863.
To date, its roster consists of 100 members of which 60 are active responders, according to Delaney.
Those who are not active work behind the scenes in various ways at the firehouse, on the grounds and fundraising.
In 2024, Water Witch had 763 calls, up 10 percent from the year prior. 8,100 responses were made to those calls, which averages out to 11 volunteer emergency responders to each call.
Gaylordsville Volunteer Fire Department, established in 1946, has a roster of 46 with 20 of those being active members.
In 2024, they responded to 175 calls.
A total of 925 responses were made to those calls, which averages out to five volunteer emergency responders to each call.
Northville Volunteer Fire Department, organized in 1963, is comprised of 65 members.
In addition, there are 10 junior members, some of whom are family members of existing members and others are newcomers.
In 2024, the department responded to 165 calls.
New Milford Community Ambulance Corp. has a combination of volunteer and paid staff, however, the organization is run by an all-volunteer board of directors.
The ambulance has paid staff around the clock through an outside vendor, as well as a paramedic in a fly car 12 hours each day, according to Donna Hespe, president of the organization.
“That medic responds to all calls as a backup if needed or as required,” she said.
The organization has approximately 12 riding volunteer members that take shifts and supplement the paid staffing on weekends when there tend to be more calls. They also cover standbys, football games, and town events.
In 2024, the ambulance responded to approximately 3,200 calls, which included all levels of service, such as paramedic level, basic calls, trauma calls, list assists (slowly climbing up in number), fire standbys and mutual aid calls.
New Milford’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) – one of 2,700 volunteer CERT organizations across the nation – is called upon to assist with emergency situations within the community.
Locally, CERT provides traffic and pedestrian management for a variety of town events, including the 8-Mile Road Race, Trunk or Treat and the Fourth of July Celebration, and assists with fire department drills and Fire Prevention Day.
In addition, CERT volunteers provide emergency shelters during extreme weather events and other emergency situations, warming or cooling centers, and train individuals to prepare for emergency situations.
Training sessions are held regularly and include topics such as CPR, family reunification, food safety, medical triage.
Membership is currently at 30.
In 2024, New Milford CERT was activated 10 times and logged a total of 356 volunteer hours.
Of those hours, 25 ¾ were at one warming center.
Bridgewater
Bridgewater Fire Department consists of both fire and EMS, all of which is volunteer.
There are approximately 25 active fire members and 15 active EMS members, with some overlap.
In 2024, there were a total of 227 calls for fire and EMS. Of those, 116 were EMS calls, which include transport, refusals, and lift assists.
Roxbury
Roxbury Volunteer Fire Department data was unavailable at publication but will be added when received.
Sherman
Sherman Volunteer Fire Department is comprised of both fire and EMS.
Data was unavailable at publication but will be added when received.
Kent
Kent Volunteer Fire Department consists of both fire and EMS members. There are 39 active fire members and 15 active EMS members.
Paid staff covers 45 percent of the EMS shifts, which costs $350,000 per year at a rate of $43/hour. It includes overnight at the firehouse.
Washington
Washington has a separate fire department and ambulance service.
The firehouse, Washington Volunteer Fire Department, consists of 46 members.
In 2024, it responded to approximately 425 calls.
Washington Community Ambulance data was unavailable at publication but will be added when received.
Warren
Warren Volunteer Fire Co., an all-volunteer company, is comprised of both fire and EMS.
There are approximately 35 active members, and no junior firefighters.
The average age of members is 50-55.
In 2024, the department responded to about 250 calls between fire and EMS.
Courtesy of Kent Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page
Courtesy of Sherman Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page
Courtesy of Roxbury Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page
Courtesy of Water Witch Hose Co. #2 Facebook page
