One Big Happy Family

摘要

When the city of Hudson, N.Y., began discussing the consolidation of fire protection services, it meant a big change for the five independent companies that had long served this riverfront community located 100 miles north of New York City. The oldest company was founded in 1794, and traditions ran deep. Each of the companies was headquartered in its own one-truck station, and all were located right on the sidewalk within a nine-block radius in the city's historic district. Two of the stations shared a common wall. All of the fire stations were well over or fast approaching 100 years of age, and all were in; various stages of disrepair. Major overhauls were: needed and the stations also were too small.