CITY OF NEWBURGH, NY—There's something about the scene that unfolds when the tones sound and fire trucks race out of the City of Newburgh fire headquarters on Grand Street, said acting Chief Terry Ahlers.
He watched Thursday afternoon as the firemen did their dance, jumping out of their everyday shoes, slipping on turnout gear and hopping in two trucks. The exhaust hoses swung from the ceiling as the trucks zoomed out and the garage doors shut. They were responding to an odor of gas at a building.
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"Sometimes, you don't know if they're going to come back," Ahlers said. "They might never get to wear those shoes again."
Ahlers only has a handful of work days left before he retires Jan. 2. He started at the Newburgh Fire Department 20 years ago, on Nov. 29, 1999.
He is departing at a troubling and uncertain time for Newburgh firefighters; the department is preparing to lay off 14 of the 68 firefighters as part of the greater plan to balance the city's 2020 budget.
"I worry about it," Ahlers said during an interview in his office. "I worry that we – I say 'we,' you know next year, it won't be me, but it's still 'we' – it feels like they (the city) are setting us up to fail again next year, and I don't understand it."
He added he has a meeting with City Manager Joe Donat scheduled for next week.
Ahlers originally planned to leave the department in the spring. He moved his retirement date to the beginning of January in hopes of providing an opening for at least one laid-off firefighter to return.
"How can we make these cuts? I don't know how we'll do it," Ahlers said.
He said he had a meeting with the chief officers last week.
"We're going to have to change how we do things," Ahlers said. "And sometimes it's not going to be an easy choice."
The city is hosting an exam for the fire chief position. Donat said Thursday four people have elected to take the test: two from within the Newburgh Fire Department and two from outside Newburgh.
Donat said he intends to name a provisional chief before Ahlers leaves.
Ahlers was named acting chief Jan. 21, 2016. The physical stresses he experienced in the field turned into mental stress and anxiety.
Suddenly, he had to worry about the health, safety and well-being of everyone in the department.
He didn't even want the position at first, Ahlers said. In the end, he was glad for the experience, but he would've been happy remaining an assistant chief. The lower position allowed for more of a crossover with duties he truly enjoyed; he could drive a truck, fight fires and be a leader without having to deal with the politics across the street at City Hall that seemed to be inevitable every budget season.
Ahlers never rose to the rank of permanent fire chief.
After witnessing a former chief be stripped of his paid time-off, Ahlers said, he would only take on the job if protection of such benefits was guaranteed in writing, which he said he was never offered.
"It was never about the money," Ahlers said.
Some members of the City Council, including Mayor Torrance Harvey and outgoing City Councilwoman-at-Large Hillary Rayford, have accused Ahlers of being greedy for not taking the permanent chief position. They have pointed out that Ahlers in his acting chief role is still part of a bargaining unit and can earn over-time pay.
The council points to out-of-control public safety overtime as the main reason for the financial crisis.
Ahlers said he took a pay cut to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a career firefighter when he was 31. Before joining the NFD, he made his living working at a lucrative apple farm.
Ahler's friend Bob Knabbe, a firefighter in New York City, ultimately talked Ahlers into taking the Newburgh job.
"He says, 'It's not all about the money,'" Ahlers recalled Knabbe telling him. "'If you have a job that you enjoy going to every day, you look forward to going to work, it's not work. Your career is not a job. It's just something that you do.'"
Ahlers was glad Knabbe talked him into pursuing his dream.
Knabbe retired this past year. He chimed in on Ahlers' decision to retire, as well.
"He says, 'You worked hard for it, now retire. Now you retire, every day is Saturday except Sunday,'" Ahlers said.
That conversation influenced Ahlers's decision to retire in the spring of 2020, but the layoffs pushed him to leave in early January.
Ahlers said he now regularly passes on Knabbe's advice about becoming a firefighter.
"I'm glad I did it. I don't regret it," Ahlers said. "I don't regret anything in my career. And that's something that I'm proud of."
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