Lockport NY

(Image - East Side Buffalo Burnout)

The city will require all new firefighters to become certified paramedics before they are hired, the Fire Board decided Thursday.

Accepting the recommendation of Fire Chief Thomas J. Passuite, the board asked the city Civil Service Commission to add the requirement to job specifications before the next examination for firefighter jobs is given in June.

“We’ll be opening that up to a statewide exam so we get the highest possible quality of candidates,” said Peter P. Robinson, who was re-elected president of the board Thursday. “We’re just trying to provide a better level of care for our citizens.”

Passuite said this is a first in Niagara County. Lockport firefighters must move into Niagara County within six months of being hired.

More than half of the city’s 51 firefighters already carry paramedic ratings. Passuite said candidates without that status will be allowed to take the civil service exam, but they must obtain paramedic certification before they can be hired.....

On another topic, the board formally asked the Common Council to buy a new pumper truck this year, a purchase Passuite said is urgently needed. The truck targeted for replacement is 22 years old.

Patrick Brady, vice president of the Lockport Professional Firefighters Association, presented the board a letter from the union calling for a new pumper. “It’s a safety issue for our guys. They aren’t comfortable driving [the old truck],” Brady said.

Mayor Michael W. Tucker said he would “have to understand the urgency” before he could support buying a new truck.

The chief also told the board he has dropped Niagara County Community College as the source for the Fire Department’s paramedic recertification training after 10 years. Superior Training Solutions, a business operated by city firefighter John Frederickson, is the new trainer.