Schenectady fire station up for upgrades, modernization

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Schenectady Fire Chief Ray Senecal speaks about the how money aquired by Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara will be spent on SFD station#3 located 1200 3rd Ave. in Mt. Pleasant.

Schenectady’s fire station in Mont Pleasant is getting funding for renovations to bring the building up to code and make it safer and more efficient.

“We want to make sure that they have the equipment and facilities that allow them to perform the really challenging jobs that they do,” Mayor Gary McCarthy said Tuesday. “This will allow this station to be brought up to code and improve the working conditions.”

Fire Chief Ray Senecal said the second-oldest firehouse in the city would be upgraded to isolate the turnout gear from the living quarters and the living quarters from the apparatus floor.

Right now firefighters have to cut through the apparatus floor, which houses Engine 3 and Rescue 3, to get to other rooms in the firehouse. Senecal said that’s not the proper layout for a firehouse under current standards.

Other upgrades include basic efficiency measures like better lighting and new equipment, he said.

“It will make for a safer environment,” he said. “Safety is my main concern and always has been.”

Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, announced a $129,000 state grant for Station 3 on Third Avenue during a news conference outside the firehouse Tuesday afternoon. That funding is on top of $300,000 from the city for improvements.

Santabarbara said he visited the four firehouses in the city and went on calls with firefighters to better assess the department’s challenges and needs.

The firehouse at 1200 Third Ave. is about 78 years old. A plaque on the exterior of the brick building reads, “Built by Works Progress Administration 1938.”

“The building has aged and the profession has evolved,” Santabarbara said. “Some needs cannot be met in its current state.”

He said the renovations would also help to improve the quality of life for firefighters.

“On our tour, I learned that firefighters work on a rotation in 24-hour shifts with [three] days off,” he said. “That’s unusual to be on 24-hour shifts like that and some nights they don’t sleep at all. Station 3 also needs some additional accommodations to make sure they can stay here for 24-hour shifts.”

McCarthy said the investment in the firehouse would help to improve the overall community.

He noted that the funding announcement comes after Santabarbara recently secured $1 million to install high-tech streetlights in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood, including on Crane Street and other nearby streets.

The streetlights, which could be equipped with fiber optics, would provide the option for additional security cameras and Wi-Fi for businesses and homes. The goal of the technology is to improve city services and boost public safety.

The high-tech streetlights are part of a push by the mayor’s Smart City Advisory Commission to work with vendors, like General Electric and Cisco, to make Schenectady a “smart city.”

Reach Gazette reporter Haley Viccaro at 395-3114, [email protected] or @HRViccaro on Twitter.