The Village of Colonie Fire Department is a volunteer, dual engine and heavy rescue company serving the Village of Colonie since 1931. They are located in the Town of Colonie, within the Village boundaries, in New York. Additionally, they are a multi-jurisdictional trench rescue team currently with 32 trench rescue technicians.
Colonie Fire Department answers roughly 400 calls per year regarding the following issues: structure fires, carbon monoxide, vehicle rescue, brush fires and first responding on EMS calls. Members perform thousands of hours of training every year to maintain the highest efficiency in firefighting and rescue tactics.
There are several gatherings for members that are recreational, and include: softball, parades, group outings, family picnics and their annual installation dinner.
The Village of Colonie Board gave approval on September 21, 1931, to organize a volunteer Fire Department. At a special Board session held in the Village School thirty of the fifty residents present enrolled in the new company. Twenty more were expected to sign up at the next meeting. Nordin J. Shambrook was elected the first Chief and Edward J. Skinner was elected President of the Fire Company. The first piece of equipment was a 600 gallon Ahrens Fox Pumper, ordered by the Board at a cost of $6,700. The original name of the Company was Killian Van Rensselaer Fire Company. The original active member list of sixty was reached by the end of 1931 and the charter was closed.
The station, located at 1631 Central Avenue, Colonie, NY 12205, was originally built in 1958, and had seen several additions over the decades. In the winter of 2012 the fire department moved out to make way for a new station. With the support of Mayor Leak and the Board of Trustees, the fire department was able to have the current station rebuilt and equipped with state of the art facilities and technology, all without borrowing any money and at no cost to the Village of Colonie taxpayers.