About - Vol. Fire Police of Saratoga County NY

Welcome to our website

The mission of Fire Police Officers is to;
1. Preform Traffic Control
2. To preform Crowd Control
3. Maintain perimeter control
4. To secure evidence

Fire Police in Saratoga County are certified Peace Officers when activated by the local Fire Chief

Our 2024 Management Team

Our officers and Board of Directors

President

Stan De Long joined the Ballston Spa FD in 2000 and was assigned to the Eagle-Matt Lee Fire Company where he serves with the Fire Police Squad.

1st Vice Pres/ Training Officer

Tim Scrom joined the fire service in 1972. He currently serves with the Arvin Hart Fire Company on the Fire Police Squad

2nd Vice President/Treasure

Alan J. Cunningham to be added

Board of Directors

Ed Windslow

Brian Sabourin

Craig Lewis

Learn more about what we do

DO SOMETHING!

Every single person who has climbed onto a fire engine has had the feeling of being straight up happy. Riding backwards, window down, enjoying your time with your crew—be as salty as you want and roll your eyes, but we’ve all felt that way at some point. Riding back to the station after a call this morning, it hit me that I hadn’t had that feeling in a minute.

Don’t get me wrong—there’s still plenty of amazing days with my shift at work, but the blissful ignorance we all experience in the beginning has long worn off. Ignorance. Call it being naïve, maybe? The feeling you had before you had a fire chief who couldn’t be bothered to show up to work, or before promotional processes got screwed up, before you really felt like just a number, before officers on scene felt like they had to choose between “safety,” “aggressive,” and writing a memo. The truth is that it’s not years of sleepless nights that grinds us down.

The kind of stuff that eats at you is hearing yet another story of a buddy let down by admin, or watching a solid firefighter leave for another department. Call it exhaustion culture. At some point in time, your career will lose that very specific spark. You might bring up your frustrations at the kitchen table, or vent about it online…but really there’s only one cure for that let-down feeling that hits all of us. Do something. “C’mon, do something.”

Like the stick figure meme prodding at you with a stick, I’m going to poke at you with this thought: you will never be able to fully save a sinking ship alone. You will always feel helpless and deflated watching a culture problem eat away at the craft that you love. Why not combine those two realities? Pick the closest problem and do something. I’m pretty sure that every positive change in the fire service started with someone deciding to somehow change it and not knowing where to start but starting anyway.

Yes, saving lives is cool, but let’s face it: we still have to like what we do. If the proverbial “house” is a mess, start by picking up the area in front of you. Don’t just leave the mess and complain on the internet. Don’t just accept that things not being right is the new norm for your department. Fix it. Change it. Better it. Sitting around feeling helpless will never be why we signed up to do anything; so why buy into that as a culture?

And that new kid next to you? The one who still has their spark? Don’t douse it; fan it into a flame. Don’t be the person who makes the grumpy comments about “this generation” or laments how much it must suck to be brand new and how you’d hate to start all over. Let them be excited about their first fire. Tell them to call their family member who’s on the job so that person can catch their excitement, too. Just because we have some heavy lifting to do as the older generation doesn’t mean we can’t set a few minds on fire while we’re attacking the big problems. Maybe ensuring that spark stays alive for the future generation is the cultural agenda you attack and protect.

C’mon. Do something.

Our Past Presidents

Date Elected Members Name Status Department Name
05/21/63 Charles Damon Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
07/17/63 Charles Damon Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
09/15/64 Charles Damon Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
09/25/65 Herbert Doten Deceased Riverside FD
09/20/66 Clifford Miller Deceased UFC – Ballston Spa
09/19/67 Clifford Miller Deceased UFC – Ballston Spa
09/17/68 George Hoyt Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
09/16/69 George Hoyt Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
09/15/70 Lester Washburn Deceased Gansevoort FD
09/21/71 Lester Washburn Deceased Gansevoort FD
09/19/72 Fred Vines Deceased Quaker Springs FD
09/18/73 Fred Vines Deceased Quaker Springs FD
09/17/74 Frank Hammon Deceased Arvin Hart FD
09/16/75 Frank Hammon Deceased Arvin Hart FD
09/21/76 Merrit Derby Deceased Quaker Springs FD
09/20/77 Merrit Derby Deceased Quaker Springs FD
09/19/78 Charles D'Avignon Deceased Mechanicville FD
09/18/79 Charles D'Avignon Deceased Mechanicville FD
09/16/80 George Durfee Life Member Arvin Hart FD
09/15/81 George Durfee Life Member Arvin Hart FD
09/21/82 Bernard Miner Deceased Mechanicville FD
09/20/83 Bernard Miner Deceased Mechanicville FD
09/18/84 Art Chouiniere Deceased Halfmoon FD
09/17/85 Art Chouiniere Deceased Halfmoon FD
09/16/86 George Wadsley Deceased Greenfield Fire Co. 1
09/15/87 George Wadsley Deceased Greenfield Fire Co. 1
09/20/88 Francis Danforth Deceased Greenfield Fire Co. 4
09/19/89 Francis Danforth Deceased Greenfield Fire Co. 4
09/18/90 Art Chouiniere Deceased Halfmoon FD
09/17/91 Art Chouiniere Deceased Halfmoon FD
09/15/92 Richard Agoney Active-Life Member West Charlton FD
09/21/93 Chuck Goody Active Member Rexford FD
09/20/94 Chuck Goody Active Member Rexford FD
09/19/95 George Seeley Life Member Malta Ridge Fire Co.
09/17/96 George Seeley Life Member Malta Ridge Fire Co.
09/16/97 Kris Chew Deceased Charlton FD
09/15/98 Kris Chew Deceased Charlton FD
09/21/99 Paul Van Schaick Life Member Rexford FD
09/19/00 Paul Van Schaick Life Member Rexford FD
09/18/01 Ray Nichols Life Member Round Lake FD
09/17/02 Ray Nichols Life Member Round Lake FD
09/16/03 L. Douglas Fletcher Deceased Malta Ridge Fire Co.
09/21/04 L. Douglas Fletcher Deceased Malta Ridge Fire Co.
09/20/05 Edwin Robbins Life Member South Glens Falls FD
09/19/07 Edwin Robbins Life Member South Glens Falls FD 200
09/20/08 Fred Miller Deceased EML – Ballston Spa
09/20/09 Olin Smith Life Member Rock City Falls FD
09/24/10 Garry Watermann Life Member Harmony Corners FD
09/20/11 Garry Watermann Life Member Harmony Corners FD
09/19/12 Joseph Bovey Life Member South Glens Falls FD
09/17/13 Joseph Bovey Life Member South Glens Falls FD
09/14/14 Patrick Kilhullen Life Member Halfmoon FD
09/16/15 Patrick Kilhullen Life Member Halfmoon FD
09/21/16 Gordon Hadsell Life - Inactive
09/20/17 Gordon Hadsell Life - Inactive
09/19/18 Gordon Hadsell Life – Inactive
01/16/19 John Rucinski, Jr Member Wilton FD
1/1/2025 Stan Delong President Ballston Spa

It is with gratitude and appreciation that we say Thank You to these officers for the time and effort they put into creating and continuing of this organization