County Manager’s Corner: “Always call 911 in an emergency”

My administration strongly encourages and advises Rockland County residents to always call 911 in the event of an emergency. This urgent message is a direct result of a volunteer group called Matzilei Aish who lack training and proper equipment to fight fires, encouraging residents to call them instead of 911.

While I admire and support all of our firefighters, it is critical that this fire department stops encouraging residents to call them directly rather than 911, knowing full well they do not have the training needed to effectively fight fires. Ultimately, our lives will be at stake if they fail.

For several months my district fire department and Emergency Services Director Chris Kear and I have sounded the alarm about the dangers this group poses not only to the City of Ramapo, but also to several state agencies, including the New York State Department of Labor, Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH), the New York State Attorney General, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC), the New York State Department of Labor,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as federal and state officials.

In addition to security risks, there are also additional concerns regarding:

– Failure to notify utility companies of observed threats.

– There was no evidence of any notification to fire and building inspectors of any violations of regulations.

– Lack of reporting by the state fire service, resulting in problems with reimbursement for homeowners and insurance claims.

This group of firefighters is undoubtedly putting residents in danger. This is a very dangerous situation where inexperienced people with a lack of serious training could potentially cause serious injury or loss of life.

Our Rockland County fire departments are well trained and experienced in a wide range of emergency situations. Emergencies should be left in their hands.

While there is no law prohibiting private fire departments in New York City, existing law prohibits things like interfering with firefighting operations, which my administration encourages fire departments to document and report if they are physically obstructed by a private fire department. Sending untrained personnel to a fire or emergency puts the lives of the public and firefighters at risk.

I commend all the local authorities who called this group and urged residents to call 911 if there is an emergency because we need to address this before it becomes a tragedy.