The Cottekill Volunteer Fire Company is located in the County of Ulster, Town of Rosendale and was duly organized on March 2nd, 1932 as a Fire Company to provide fire protection.

Membership of the fire company is comprised of active, associate, junior and honorary members with a total membership average of 20 members.

Persons wishing to become a member of the CVFC must be at least 16 years of age, a citizen of the United States, of good moral character and sound body. Junior members must be at least 14 years of age, but no older than 17 years of age.

The CVFC is organized to save lives by providing rescue and medical attention, control fires, secure scenes involving hazardous materials, outdoor electrical problems, road hazards, flooding conditions and other activities as deemed in the best interest of the fire company or the citizens of our community.

The leadership of this organization recognizes and welcomes diversity within the membership of the CVFC. It is understood that members have different desires and capabilities in the type of duties they wish/can perform. To accommodate diversity and to enhance the operational capabilities of the organization, job titles and associated duties have been created for the workforce. A training program will be developed for each job title.

            Active:

                        Exterior Firefighter: Provides scene support at emergency scenes

                        EMS: Provide emergency medical care to the sick and injured

                        Engineer: Drives and operates the apparatus

                        Fire Police: Provides traffic and crowed control

                        Interior Firefighter: Full interior and exterior duties

            Associate

It is the commitment of this company to provide to the best of our ability a safe operation, prevent accidents, illnesses, fatalities, comply with all applicable laws and regulations, establish safe work habits and establish guidelines as an attachment to this policy to help meet these objectives.  Guidelines shall be prepared for such items as the wearing of self-contained breathing apparatus, dealing with special hazards such as gas leaks, energized electrical equipment, confined spaces, fire ground accountability or as deemed necessary by the chief or the company.

A safety committee shall be appointed by the chief of the company and shall continue in that position until relieved of those responsibilities.  The committee shall serve in an advisory capacity to conduct research and develop recommendations regarding safety and health issues for the review of the chief of the company.  This committee shall meet at least once every six months.

A safety officers shall be appointed by the chief of the company and shall continue in that position until relieved of those responsibilities.  Each officer of the company and other firefighters as identified by the chief shall be trained in emergency scene safety.  If the safety officer is not available at emergencies when the incident commander deems that this staff position should be activated, an appropriate fire officers or firefighter shall be assigned to this position for the incident. (see Section SAFETY OFFICER)

The chief of the company shall create the position of Health and Safety Officer to process questions from fire company members concerning possible exposure to communicable diseases at emergency incidents.  The Health and Safety Officer shall have the responsibility to contact the necessary agencies to determine if exposure to communicable diseases has occurred and then advise the member making the request. (see Section SAFETY OFFICER)

The chief of the company or his designee shall establish a record collection system for such records as injuries, illnesses, deaths, exposure to toxic products and infectious diseases, membership training, maintenance/inspection of equipment, apparatus, facilities and other areas as deemed appropriate.  In addition, the driver’s license of all active members shall be witnessed and its registration number and expiration date shall be recorded and updated as required. The Fire Chief will conduct an annual review of membership driver's licenses.