Kendall FD welcomes community to decommission open house for ambulance on Jan. 1

KENDALL – The Kendall community is invited to an open house on Sunday at the fire hall to bid farewell to the ambulance at the fire department.

The Kendall FD ran the all-volunteer service since 1968. It announced in October the service would cease at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31.

Firefighters will still respond to EMS calls, but transports will be handled by Monroe Ambulance and others in mutual aid.

The open house will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the fire hall, 1879 Kendall Rd. Photos will be on display of ambulances through the years. Eric Maxon, a Kendall firefighter for 41 years and treasurer for the ambulance for 23 years, will give a presentation at noon about the history of the ambulance service in Kendall.

The fire department is the last one in Orleans County operating an all-volunteer ambulance service for free.

He said the training requirements and the transports to Rochester hospitals took more time for the volunteers.

“We’ve been known for our ambulance service,” Maxon said today. “But it’s such a burden on volunteers. It’s taken a toll on everybody.”

The fire department didn’t want to continue with the service when it was in doubt there would be a crew to make a timely response.

“We didn’t want a call go out and have nobody show up,” Maxon said.

The open house and decommissioning on Sunday is a chance for the fire department to thank the community for its support for the past 54 years for the ambulance service.

The department will be selling the ambulance and then acquiring a Tahoe that will function as a fly car for basic life support services.