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Staten Island volunteer fire companies lack city funding despite thousands of 911 responses
- Updated: Apr. 03, 2026, 1:55 p.m.
- |Published: Apr. 03, 2026, 5:50 a.m.
Robert Sawicki (left) and Robert Coghlan pose for a photo at the Oceanic firehouse Friday, March 20, 2026.(Advance/SILive.com/Paul Liotta
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island’s two volunteer fire companies responded to more than 2,000 911 emergencies in 2025, and they did it all without much funding from the city.
Robert Coghlan, chief for the Travis-based Oceanic Hook and Ladder Fire Company, said the lack of public money has his organization teetering on a financial cliff.
“The city wants us without the funding,” Coghlan said. “You’re dispatching us. It’s basic stuff. The city has a $2.3 billion budget for the FDNY.”
The FDNY budget has actually grown to around $2.6 billion, but either way, Coghlan isn’t looking for a big chunk. He said he’s looking for the basics — things like fuel for the company’s trucks and equipment for its 47 members, even if it’s hand-me-downs from the FDNY.
The head of Oceanic hopes a state grant for volunteer fire companies can answer one particularly large ask, repairs to the company’s building that dates back almost 150 years, but even that presents challenges.
An Oceanic volunteer's helmet is displayed Friday, March 20, 2026.(Advance/SILive.com/Paul Liotta
Across large swaths of New York, volunteer fire companies are the only day-to-day fire response service, so funding for those organizations can take priority over a pair of New York City companies, Oceanic and Richmond Engine Co. 1, that serve the same geographic area as one of the largest municipal fire departments on earth.
According to the FDNY, Richmond Engine responded to 1,203 911 emergencies and Oceanic responded to 891 911 emergencies in 2025. Both volunteer companies have served the community in similar ways for over a century.
Richmond Engine traces its history to the late 1800s with a group of residents in the area officially forming the volunteer company in 1903. Oceanic goes back even further with the company celebrating its 145th anniversary this year.
The Travis-based fire company saw a particularly busy year in 2024 when a dry fall brought a historic number of brush fires to the borough. In addition to its main truck, Oceanic has two units specially-designed to fight brush fires, a point of pride for Coghlan who bragged that their trucks are “better than the city’s.”
A wall at the Oceanic firehouse displays various pieces of memorabilia from the fire company's history Friday, March 20, 2026.(Advance/SILive.com/Paul Liotta
Visitors to the Oceanic firehouse will find history throughout. The company has dedications to members past and present, there’s an old lamp dating to when the company used horse-drawn carriages to fight fires, they have records of meeting minutes going back to the 1800s, and the history can even be found among some of the Oceanic membership.
Part of the fabric of one of Staten Island’s most unique neighborhoods, generations of several Travis families have been members of Oceanic. The firehouse’s walls display decades-worth of commemorative mugs marking the annual Travis Fourth of July parade.
Robert Sawicki, a resident of the West Shore neighborhood and president of Oceanic, has been with the organization for 33 years. His father was also a member of the fire company in the 1980s.
“Everything changes but the morale is good, you know because you could see it’s a volunteer firehouse, so there’s no faking it up here,” Sawicki said. “You’re gonna be a member and do good or just give up and quit.”
Sawicki said his decades of service and familial connection to the firehouse have given him an inside look at some of the company’s best stories, but one piece of knowledge lost to history is a name change predating most modern members’ existence. Oceanic originally went by “Oceanica.” No one knows when or why the name was changed.
Richmond Engine Co. 1 firehouse is shown Wednesday, April 1, 2026.(Advance/SILive.com | Paul Liotta)
Representatives for Richmond Engine did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but Coghlan largely credited Councilmember David Carr for helping keep his organization afloat in recent years.
Last year, the Republican councilmember allocated $45,000 to Oceanic and $35,000 to Richmond Engine through his discretionary funds, according to the FDNY. A spokesperson for Carr said since taking office in 2021 he’s allocated $300,000 to the two volunteer companies.
“Our volunteer fire companies continue to play an integral role in our borough’s emergency response system, especially in areas where there are gaps in coverage that the FDNY cannot always fill,” Carr said. “Even beyond their functionality, Oceanic Hook & Ladder and Richmond Engine Company are an important part of the history and fabric of our borough, as well as stellar community service organizations. That alone is worth funding and preserving.”
For its part, the FDNY has made little indication that it plans to increase funding for the two Staten Island volunteer fire companies. When asked about the lack of funding, a department spokesperson simply responded that the FDNY provides emergency services where the two local organizations operate.
The FDNY has also sought more funding of its own in recent years as it faces rising costs due to much-needed building repairs, personnel funding shortfalls, and expected pay for emergency medical services personnel to improve recruitment and retention.
Coghlan said the funding hardships have led to some creative fundraising efforts on the part of his fire company. They host steak and cigar dinner social events and have even secured a sponsorship from Proper No. 12, the Irish whiskey brand formerly associated with mixed martial artist Conor McGregor. Eventually, he worries that creativity will run out.
“This is what we do to buy bunker gear and equipment,” Coghlan said. “We don’t have the funds to put a couple $100,000 into the firehouse. At some point, could it become dangerous, and we’re not allowed to be in the firehouse? Possibly.”
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