Maintaining Volunteer Security

Complete security system for the town of Batavia Fire Departmen

• By Anne Insero
• Sep 19, 2022

The Town of Batavia, New York is a community of opportunity, originally established in 1802 in Western New York. After a fire occurred without any responding fire apparatus, it was determined the town needed its own fire company. In 1948, during the first scheduled fire company meeting a truck was purchased, and the department was incorporated.

Since then, the town has maintained its own volunteer Fire Department. The department strives for excellence in fire suppression, prevention, rescue, and other emergency support services, through training and education, for the protection of its members, neighbors, and guests. The largest contribution to the development of the department has always been the commitment and dedication of the men and women who volunteer their time and expertise for the protection of the community.

Now, the fire department operates out of two stations in the town. A previously existing station on the west side of the district has five truck bays, a radio room, as well as offices and a meeting room. A new 10,000-square foot station opened in 2021, and includes a radio room, chief’s office, conference office, fitness room, four bunk rooms, decontamination room, mechanics room, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) room, and a day room for members. With two drive thru truck bays for storing vehicles and equipment, the trucks do not need to back up to enter and exit the new station.

The department sought a complete security system to safeguard the two facilities and turned to Humphrey Electric & Security for a solution.

“We take security and safety very seriously,” said Tim Yaeger, town of Batavia Fire Department Board of Director. “By securing our taxpayers’ investments in public safety assets and equipment, we’re protecting what protects them.”

“The stations needed video surveillance, access control and fire systems. We chose to use a common manufacturer for the solution,” said Dave Humphrey, owner of Humphrey Electric & Security. Humphrey Electric & Security is a family-owned full-service electrical company that has operated in Western New York for more than 40 years. The company designed, engineered and installed the complete security system, including the wiring.

Bosch systems secures both stations’ video surveillance, access control and fire detection.

Twenty-seven FLEXIDOME IP 5000i cameras with five-megapixel resolution provide high quality images around the interior and exterior of the building to help deter unwelcome behavior. The day/night cameras feature a built-in active infrared illuminator for high performance in low-light environments. In addition, a high dynamic range enables capturing distinguishing details in both bright and dark areas of a scene.

Video recording and management comes from the DIVAR IP all-in-one 5000 solution. This fully featured video recording and management solution provides out-of-the box IP video recording for up to 42 channels.

Having the same system design at each station ensures ease of use for fire department personnel. This makes it easy for authorized personnel to review information or video from either station when needed.

B9512G Control Panels combine access control and fire alarm monitoring in one system for the facilities. This allows users to interface with one system instead of two for both access control and fire alarm monitoring to improve ease of use. For an added measure of security, pull stations are installed on the exterior of the building to provide added support for volunteer members and visitors. If activated, the pull stations will trigger the control panel to send an alarm communication to the central dispatch center.

Access control is in place at both interior and exterior doors. The system provides the volunteer members freedom of movement in the facility while allowing the fire department to control entry to the building and to certain rooms within the facility when needed. For example, this flexibility allows the department to restrict visitor access to the living quarters or fitness room when needed. This capability is important as the station begins a bunk-in program for its volunteer members.

Using the Bosch Security Manager app for G Series Control Panels, authorized staff can lock and unlock doors remotely, which is helpful for granting access to visitors at the facility. The app enables authorized personnel to see who is at the facility requesting access prior to unlocking the door. It provides convenient control of the system from a mobile device.

Plans for future enhancements to this complete security solution include programming the access control system to help ensure volunteer members enter the decontamination room in the truck bay prior to accessing the interior of the building after an emergency. The decontamination room aids in keeping firefighters’ gear separate from the rest of the building. The Bosch systems offer the flexibility to adapt easily to changes as the needs of the Town of Batavia Fire Department evolve over time in their efforts to safeguard the department’s volunteers, assets, and equipment.

This article originally appeared in the September / October 2022 issue of Security Today.