While the FDNY may get the spotlight, the city's few all-volunteer fire companies are being seen as increasingly important, especially after Hurricane Sandy. NY1's Josh Robin filed the following report.
Volunteers at the Gerritsen Beach Fire Department are always on alert. The so-called Vollies fight fires and provide emergency medical care to 2,200 waterfront homes.
"Response time is much quicker, as we are right here," said Doreen Garson of the Gerritsen Beach Fire Department.
When Hurricane Sandy blew through, the fire station and the memorial hall nearby turned into something bigger, even though the storm also damaged both.
"We lined this whole place with tables," Garson said.
It fed Gerritsen Beach for six months. But that's not all. It was a home, really, when others were all but washed away.
"In some places, it surged up to nine feet depending on the street level, and people ran for their lives."
Now, with the low-lying area threatened by future storms, the state is stepping in. About $2.5 million in federal funds will insulate the hall and station, plus build a second floor at the hall where equipment could be stored.
"It's very important that we kind of maintain the strong community fabric that this neighborhood has, and that the Vollies and the Gerritsen Beach Fire Department are kind of the nerve center of," said Chelsea Muller of the governor's office of storm recovery.
Another $500,000 is flood-proofing a firehouse in the West Hamilton Beach section of Queens, which took on several feet of water in Sandy.
Gerritsen Beach is the last all-volunteer squad in Brooklyn. Forty firefighters respond to up to 10 runs a week.
This spring, the state is expected to announce additional grants to retrofit community centers in other parts of the five boroughs hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.