City will be down to one volunteer fire company
Only one will remain in city after shutdown of A.H. Wicks station
The A.H. Wicks station will shut down on July 7, the Board of Fire Commissioners has decided.
One of the two remaining volunteer firehouses in the city is closing, Mayor Steve Noble announced Friday.
Noble said the Kingston Board of Fire Commissioners voted unanimously at its last meeting to recommend the A.H. Wicks Engine and Truck Company at 17 Wiltwyck Ave. be shut down.
The closure will be effective July 7, and the remaining five members of the Wicks company have been urged to seek transfers to the J.N. Cordts firehouse on Delaware Avenue, the only volunteer station that will be left in Kingston.
The Rapid Hose Fire Company on Hone Street closed in March 2016, and its building was sold at an auction in May 2016 for $182,000.
Noble said in a prepared statement that voting to close the Wicks fire station “was a difficult decision for the commission.” The mayor said he was “grateful for the service of all of our volunteer firefighters, past and present” and that he was “hopeful that by locating all of our volunteer firefighters in one company, we will be successful in building capacity and attracting new members.”
Most firefighters in Kingston are paid city employees. The Kingston Fire Department currently has 51 members.
Among the former members of the A.H. Wicks company is the Kingston Fire Department’s current chief, Mark Brown.
“I started as a volunteer at Wicks in 1975,” Brown said in a press release issued by the mayor’s office. “I wholeheartedly believe there is still a significant role for volunteer fire companies in our city, but it’s a big commitment.
“The mandated training takes up to one year to complete,” Brown said. “However, this work is like nothing else in the world and it’s worth the time and energy to know that you can help protect our community.”
The city does not own the Wicks building. Any city-owned equipment that’s located there will be returned to the Kingston Fire Department.
The A.H. Wicks Engine and Truck Company was founded in 1941 and originally operated out of a garage across the street from its current home, which was built in 1947.
The company took ownership of the building in 1996.