The numbers are in, and the news isn’t pretty.
Virtually all of the area’s volunteer fire departments reported an increase in emergency call responses in 2024, with several hitting record levels. In November, the Greenport FD eclipsed 1,000 calls for the first time in its history en route to a total of 1,144 responses, a 14% increase over 2023.
Mattituck totaled 703 calls on the year, including responses to five active house fires, a “peculiar” number for a department that typically sees one or two such incidents each year, one official said.
One of those blazes, on Old Sound Avenue in November, resulted in the death of Edy Herrera, an immigrant from Guatemala who was working as a dishwasher at C.J’s American Grill in Mattituck.
Around the same time, three separate brush fires demanded the attention of the Riverhead Fire Department over Veterans Day weekend and required the assistance of multiple nearby departments, including Orient, Cutchogue, Manorville, Eastport, Wading River and Moriches.
Over those same several weeks, brush fires broke out all over New York State, with major concentrations in southern New York and Long Island. Area volunteers assisted in the response to massive blazes in Orange County at the request of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. Eight Suffolk County fire departments voluntarily responded and convoyed together to the scene. The North Fork and East End were well represented, with Orient, Greenport, East Marion, Mattituck and Shelter Island sending personnel and equipment.
Fires represent just a small fraction of the emergencies that local volunteers are tasked with responding to and typically account for less than one-third of total calls, 2024 reports show.
The vast majority of calls are in response to emergency medical situations — classified as “rescues” in the departments’ reports. For example, of the Cutchogue Fire Department’s 511 calls, 369 were responses to medical emergencies. Greenport officials estimate that roughly 75% of its 2024 calls were rescues, including a notable spike in alcohol-related overdose emergencies in the village during the summer.
This rising tide shows no signs of ebbing any time soon: Based on 2025 numbers to date, Greenport is currently on pace for more than 1,200 calls for the year.
At the same time, recruitment continues to be a major challenge for the majority of local fire departments and the need for more — particularly younger — volunteers is increasingly pressing. Mattituck Fire Chief Bobby Haas said that with the rapidly rising costs of living across the region, volunteerism is at an “all time low.”
So now what? Former Greenport mayor David Nyce, a chief with its fire department, noted that many potential recruits who move to the North Fork are coming from places where firefighters are paid to volunteer, providing an incentive to stay involved and compensate for the time burdens of required training. The Mattituck FD currently pays its EMTs, and Cutchogue is in the process of offering paid volunteer opportunities as well, Mr. Nyce said. He feels this trend will continue and believes that eventually all local departments will follow suit and compensate first responders.
Of course, changing decades — even centuries — of public policy is no simple task. But it may be time for all of us to work together — and answer the call.