Times Telegram
Little Falls Fire Chief Rob Parese will be assisting the Ilion Fire Department on a part-time basis while the Ilion department is without a chief and another of its members due to an investigation.
The arrangement, which the Little Falls Common Council approved during a meeting Tuesday, calls for Parese to devote eight hours each week to the Ilion department.
“This is a shared services agreement with the village of Ilion,” said Little Falls Mayor Mark Blask. “This will have no effect on safety for our residents. He’ll go there certain days, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays for about three or four hours. This will be at most for about three months.”
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While Herkimer firefighters don’t provide an ambulance service, they do serve as first responders for medical calls in the village. “We’ve been very active in it,” said Fire Chief John Spanfelner, when asked in a telephone interview about the impact of the uptick in coronavirus cases. “Now with the numbers going up, our calls are increasing more and more every day.”
He estimated that three out of four calls to which the village department responds are COVID-related.
COVID-19 calls for the Little Falls Fire Department ambulance have been sporadic, according to Fire Chief Rob Parese. “We have our share. We just make sure we take precautions.” The department provides fire and ambulance service to the city as well as town of Little Falls and part of the town of Manheim.