Brewster-Southeast Joint Fire District
The Brewster-Southeast Joint Fire District was formed
September 1, 1966 by joint resolution of the Village of
Brewster Board of Trustees and the Southeast Town Board.
A Message to our Residents
The Brewster Southeast Joint Fire District, along with the Brewster Volunteer Fire Department has provided top notch, professional, and compassionate care to the residents of the Town of Southeast and the Village of Brewster for more than 150 years.
Over the last several years however, our Fire District has changed drastically. The addition of urgent care medical facilities and nursing homes along with several new apartment complexes as well as some very large “last mile” warehouses have increased our call volume tremendously. And, our district is growing still. Currently under construction is Brewster Yards, a sports complex that will have as many as 3,000 people per event. And, soon to begin, the Envision Brewster project will add several hundred more apartments to Brewster Village. While community development is generally good, it will continue to increase the number of our fire and EMS responses.
Our Fire District and Department have had other challenges as well. The COVID Pandemic caused many of our Volunteer EMTs to give up riding the ambulance. Our current economy has added additional burdens to our current volunteer members too, decreasing their availability.
Faced with these challenges, the Board of Fire Commissioners, in order to ensure proper coverage and maintain the high level of care that our residents expect, have had to hire full time EMTs to provide first line coverage for our ambulance calls.
Our volunteers still provide critical care via a dedicated EMT “Fly Car” that can get to an emergency quickly and efficiently to provide life saving care. But, transport to the hospital is provided by our paid staff.
Fire protection for our residents still remains 100% Volunteer. This saves our taxpayers more than 3 million dollars annually. However, the number of requests for Emergency Medical Services, which in 2023 were more than 2,000 calls, continues to climb. This combined with a lack of a sufficient number of volunteer EMTs, has forced the district to put into operation an alternative plan to meet our mission of public health and safety.
After much consideration, the Board of Fire Commissioners had to take the most cost effective and prudent course of action, which was to begin our own municipal emergency medical service known as Brewster Southeast EMS.
No one when faced with an emergency should have to worry about being able to afford an ambulance. No one will be given a bill for transportation to the hospital that forces them to deal with a collection agency. Our ambulance will participate in the Governor’s “EMS Cost Recovery Act” by billing insurance companies for services, however no one will receive a bill for charges in excess of what they will cover.
Unfortunately, to meet this mission, the District was forced to increase the overall fire tax. While the percentage increase appears high, the actual monetary increase is less than other municipalities.
The Board of Fire Commissioners continues to work hard to provide our residents with the best in fire and emergency medical services. We firmly believe that this is the most cost effective way to continue to provide this essential service.
Thank you for your continued and unwavering support.
