At the North Massapequa Fire Department's Annual Inspection Dinner, held on May 9, the newly elected chiefs of the department were sworn into office. The chairman of the board of Fire Commissioners, Frank A. Nocerino, administered the oath of office to newly elected Chief of the Department Ralph Raymond. Assistant Chief John McCormack, 2nd Assistant Chief Kenneth Blinder and 3rd Assistant Chief Richard Erickson, were sworn into office by Board Vice Chairman John J. Erickson.

Chief Raymond lives in Massapequa with his wife and three children and runs A1 Award Transmissions, a family-owned business in Huntington. His interest began in the fire department began at the age of 21, when Chief Raymond started a career as a volunteer fireman. For 15 years, Chief Raymond has dedicated himself to serving the needs of the North Massapequa community through his service in the fire department.

In an interview with the newly elected chief, Ralph Raymond explains his vision for the North Massapequa Fire Department; a vision which will increase the department's involvement with the community. According to Chief Raymond, the decision to accept the oath of Chief of the Department, occurred due to his vision of maximizing the potential of the department. "It was a vision, actually wanting to get more involved with the community, wanting to incorporate my ideas into the community."

In order for the department to better serve the people of North Massapequa, Chief Raymond believes his ideas will allow the department to quickly and effectively attend to the needs of the community. "Ideas such as overall helping the community, more training, more safety. There's a lot of people in this community, especially North Massapequa, that have a great need for the fire department, as far as ambulance calls go, as far as house fire calls go, we're the only ones they've got."

The basic tenets of Chief Raymond's mission statement for the department has been formulated over the course of many years of dedicated service and experience. In order to achieve the rank of Chief of the Department, Ralph Raymond first had to serve the community in all three positions of assistant chief. There are three assistant chief positions along with chief of the department, to total eight years of service. Each position lasts a term of two years. There are no opponents that must be run against in order to attain the position of chief of the department. In order to be eligible, therefore, a person must have served in all three assistant positions. "Being a chief means that you put in eight years; it is an eight year climb to success," said Raymond. While time and experience are two of the requirements to attain the position of chief of the department, rigorous training and schooling are also mandated.

"Every chief when they get into office has a certain criteria they want to follow, a certain way to do business," he added.

Heading a department of 115 active volunteer firemen, Chief Raymond has definite goals and changes he will institute in the department. According to Chief Raymond these changes will only be for the betterment of the taxpayers and will include improved response times to alarm calls, training for the men, and upgrading of all equipment. "Even though our response times happen to be one of the lowest around, we're out and into a house within three to five minutes of an alarm, we see how we can improve upon that, how we can get there faster, how we can get proper technicians there and how we can get more guys in the department trained to be emergency medical and advanced emergency medical technicians."

In an effort to increase department training and skills, members attend department level training two times a month. In addition, the two engine companies and one ladder company each have their own in-house training programs every Sunday. For example, members attend the Bethpage Fire Service Academy, which is a school run by Nassau County to train firemen. At the Academy, firemen enhance their training by entering real fires set up in a controlled environment.

"Being a volunteer firemen takes a great deal of time. Some people think being a volunteer firemen is no big deal," Raymond said.

However, he added, the perception of the public that the men watch TV and hang out in the fire house needs to be corrected. On an average the men are at the fire house three to four nights a week, training and drilling. "That's four nights a week they are away from their families, for the community."

What does all of the hours the men spend training and improving their techniques result in? Chief Raymond believes the end result is the enormous amount of strengths the department offers the community. The main strengths of the department include: a very active confined rescue team, an excellent EMS program with 23 NYS certified technicians and two paramedics qualified to administer drugs on call. The department also has an excellent fire prevention program. Chief Raymond believes, "it is very important our guys go out during the school season, to different, various schools and organizations within this district, upon the schools and organization's request."

"Our main concern, whether it's fire, EMS, confined space, is to get that emergency need to the people of the community as fast and effectively as possible," Raymond said.

While Chief Raymond and the entire North Massapequa Fire Department have pledged to increase the safety of the community, it is necessary for the community to do its part in maintaining proper fire safety. Chief Raymond's message for the community is emphatic. "Smoke detectors are a must. Anyone that does not buy a smoke detector is not doing their family a justice. I have to be cruel when I say that but smoke detectors save lives."