Who we are
The Rye Professional Firefighters are made up of a 20 member local who have been serving the people of Rye since 1919. Originally hired to provide the fire department with a staff of drivers, the job has evolved with the growing demands and needs of the community. As the population and demographics of Rye have changed over the years, our membership has been dispatched on an increasing number of alarms.
Local 2029 is a member of the International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO.
As early as 1919, the Rye Fire Department employed Career Firefighters to serve as drivers. Since then, the City has hired a total of 59 Career Firefighters. Our latest hire was in May of 2023.
Today the Local is made up of 20 Career Firefighters, four groups of five, working 24 hours shifts, with one Career Captain/Fire Inspector. Members of the Local bring with them diverse backgrounds, from working in the financial sector to building construction, all with the same goal of protecting the citizens of Rye and those who are passing through.
To become a Professional Firefighter, candidates must take a county civil service test, an agility test, and if hired by the city, complete the Career Fire Academy. Over the course of 18 weeks of intensive classroom and physical work, the Career Fire Academy prepares candidates for the best job in the world. Upon graduation, probationary firefighters receive national certifications in Firefighter I,II, and Hazard Materials, along with over 25 New York State Fire certifications.
Honor Roll
Below is a list of retired Career Firefighters who served the City of Rye. The same list can be found in our dayroom at fire headquarters.
Joseph Haig - Retired 1937
Matthew Balls - Retired 1938
Raymond Hare - 5/24/1948-2/15/1953
Robert Dickey - 10/6/1926-1/31/1957
Leander Ferris - 10/1/1919-1/1/1966
Vincent O'Mara - 12/7/1936-12/31/1968
John Baron - 2/1/1952-5/6/1973
Joseph Pasquale - 7/10/1961-6/9/1974
Charles Phelps - 2/23/1953-7/30/1978
Robert Billington - 1/1/1959-11/20/1980
Ernest Fornander - 2/1/1949-1/1/1981
Edward T. Dempsey - 9/1/1949-7/31/1984
Daniel Coughlin - 2/1/1949-8/31/1985
Roger Olsen - 11/16/1963-9/30/1988
Robert Slater - 7/15/1962-6/29/1991
Peter Evans - 2/2/1974-7/15/1991
Jack Miley - 2/1/1957-2/1/1992
Kevin White - 7/6/1971-1/23/1993
Frank J. Lalla - 10/20/1966-3/31/1993
Vincent A. DiBuono - 6/17/1967-12/30/1997
John M. Wickham - 12/18/1979-10/31/1999
William B. Vogeler - 1/18/1965-3/10/2001
Thomas Amico - 1/1/1973-12/1/2002
Herbert Harriott - 1/1/1969-1/8/2005
Bruce T. Kerr - 8/13/1985-7/4/2010
James W. Dianni - 1/1/1973-3/31/2012
Todd Barnum - 10/3/1988-5/3/2014
Harold Aken - 7/13/1992-7/17/2016
Dan DeCarlo - 1/5/1981-7/30/2016
Richard Roode - 1/5/1981-7/28/2018
Alan Demmel - 6/3/1985-9/21/2018
Kurt Tietjen - 3/1/2000-3/3/2020
Michael Cucchiara - 4/19/1993-9/30/2020
John Castelhano - 7/20/1992-7/26/2021
James Groglio - 9/5/2000-9/30/2020
Jeffrey Fernandes - 4/30/1993-8/4/2022
Andrew Northshield - 2/24/2003-10/15/2022