New Rochelle Veteran Firefighter Curtis Taylor Is Pelham Village Fire Chief
By Amanda Kaufmann
The Village of Pelham’s new fire chief, Curtis Taylor, has more than 25 years experience as a career firefighter in New Rochelle and is looking forward to his tenure in Pelham.
“It’s an honor to be asked to be chief,” he said in an interview. “I look forward to the challenge.” The Pelham fire chief’s duties are administrative (budget, hiring) as well as managerial. Chief Taylor is required to work 19 hours a week and to be on call 24 hours a day for all smoke, fire, and major emergencies calls.
Chief Taylor has been a career firefighter in New Rochelle for the past 25 years, retiring in May as a captain, acting deputy chief, and company commander of Station 3 in the heart of New Rochelle’s downtown. Originally from New Rochelle, he graduated from Blackburn University in Illinois before returning east to join the force. He became a New York State Code Enforcement Officer in 1996 (meaning he has the authority to write tickets for violations of the standards set by the state) and a New York State Fire Investigator in 1998. In 2006, Chief Taylor received his Associate’s Degree in Fire Protection Technology from Corning Community College in Corning, NY.
Chief Taylor joined the Pelham Department one month ago and has already begun to take steps to familiarize himself with the village and his position. As of last week, he had been on 15 calls and he had already met with the Mt. Vernon Fire Commissioner to discuss doing joint training drills, and plans to meet with Pelham Manor Fire Chief Joe Ruggiero and the New Rochelle Fire Commissioner Ray Kiernan. Chief Taylor has also implemented the use of NIFR’s (National Incidence Fire Reports) in an effort to increase organized documentation. In addition, he has begun making what he calls a “street book,” writing down every street and its intersections on index cards for his reference. He has already completed Chester Park.
Chief Taylor would like to implement the village’s plan to establish an inspection schedule for all businesses and buildings with three of more residences and provide accompanying fire prevention education. He has been leading the department effort to gather “pre-planning” information such as the layout of the building, whether a hose fits down a hallway, where smoke detectors are located, where the central fire alarm system is located, etc.
“It’s simple. The more there is education and prevention, the less there will be fires,” said Chief Taylor. In the same vein, Chief Taylor would like career firefighters to visit school children more than once a year.
Chief Taylor is working with all firefighters, both career and volunteer, on training guidelines. Career firefighters are required by New York State to train for at least 100 hours each year. There are also certification requirements for volunteer firefighters as to entering buildings, etc.
Firefighters who are not properly trained could risk injury to themselves or others, and Chief Taylor’s goal is to minimize the potential for injury and maximize safety for all the firefighters.
Other goals for Chief Taylor in his new position are to strengthen the department’s command structure, to streamline operations, and organize the administrative paperwork.
Chief Taylor noted that his predecessor, Rich Carfora, has been very helpful, and he remains an active member of the volunteers.
from PelhamWeekly.com
Tax Information from the Town of Pelham
The Town of Pelham’s web site has been revamped and now includes public access to assessment information on all properties, including tax maps and photographic images of the properties. You have to know the parcel’s tax ID and address to get the information. The tax ID is on your tax bill and is also available in bound books at the Assessor’s Office on the second floor of Town Hall. The tax ID number is part of the “parcel ID” and starts with 1XX.XX-X-X etc. The web site address is http://townofpelham.sdgnys.com/.
