Buffalo, NY – Mayor Byron W. Brown and Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo today presided over the graduation ceremony for 13 new Buffalo Firefighters at West Hertel Academy.
“I’m very pleased to welcome these 13 men and women who answered the call to a career with the Buffalo Fire Department,” Mayor Brown said. “As my Administration continues to make public safety a top priority, I look forward to working with the newest members of the Buffalo Fire Department to further improve the health and safety of our city by keeping equity, inclusion and diversity at the center of everything we do.”
Mayor Brown noted that since 2006, the City has invested over $37 million in its fire department, including an allocation of $3.75 million over the past few years for the purchase of new apparatus. Since June of 2018, the Brown Administration has added 189 new firefighters to the Buffalo Fire Department.
“Today’s graduation of recruit class 21-01 makes us a more robust organization, better able to serve the citizens of Buffalo more safely, while delivering fire and EMS services more effectively and efficiently than ever before,” Commissioner William Renaldo said. “The addition of these new firefighters demonstrates our commitment to a fully-staffed, trained and ready firefighting force.”
Mayor Brown reiterated that in these challenging times, it is more important than ever that the men and women of the Buffalo Fire Department have all the tools they need as they answer the call to rescue and protect the City of Buffalo’s residents, businesses and visitors. The 2021 Capital Budget builds on the major capital improvement and equipment upgrades the Brown Administration has made over the last 16 years. Key items in this year’s capital budget include $1.9 million for a self-contained breathing apparatus, $1.3 million for an aerial ladder truck and a groundbreaking for a new state-of-the-art firehouse at the corner of Seneca Street and Southside Parkway in South Buffalo, which will cost more than $5 million to build and equip.
In 2020, the City added three new fire engines, as well as two new SUVs to get key personnel to emergency scenes and a utility vehicle. Other key investments by the Brown Administration in the Buffalo Fire Department since 2006 include: creation of the City of Buffalo Police & Fire Headquarters at the Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse Building, replacement of the entire fleet of fire vehicles, refurbishing of the historic Edward W. Cotter fireboat, construction of three new firehouses, major renovations at several others, equipping firefighters with state-of-the-art equipment, and training our firefighters to administer overdose-reversing medication.