Sag Harbor Firehouse Grant Will Be Directed to Fireboat Instead

The Sag Harbor Fire Department, which has been raising money to buy a state-of-the-art fireboat, has found a significant portion of that funding by re-purposing a $250,000 state grant originally intended to be used for the renovation and expansion of the Sag Harbor Firehouse.

Trustee Tom Gardella, who is a former chief and remains an active member in the department, estimated that a fireboat will cost approximately $650,000. With the grant, a private pledge of $100,000 and $80,000 raised with the Sag Harbor Partnership at a summertime community party, a total of $430,000 has been raised.

Gardella has said in the past that his two biggest fears as fire chief were a major blaze on Main Street — as occurred in December 2016, when the Sag Harbor Cinema and surrounding buildings were seriously damaged — or a fire along the waterfront, where firefighters would be limited in their ability to attack the blaze from all sides.

The department has a re-purposed fireboat moored in Sag Harbor with an undersized pump that would be quickly outmatched in the event of a major fire. A second small boat is moored in Noyac.

The new fireboat would be available for mutual aid calls from other departments as well.

Gardella said he approached State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. about changing the intended use of the grant money, and he had agreed it would be an acceptable change in use of the money.

“Providing this necessary apparatus to the Sag Harbor Fire Department is critical to fully protect the health and safety of our community,” Thiele said in a release. “I was happy to work with the village fire department and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to provide our dedicated response team with the funding needed to more effectively protect public safety.”

He added, “Thanks to all our volunteer first responders on the East End and across the state for their service.”