The Town of Kendall is found in western New York State on the
Lake Ontario shore approximately half way between the cities of
Buffalo and Rochester. We are a small, close knit society set in
rural Orleans County. Our community’s population is close to
2800 people. The largest employers in Kendall are the Kendall
School District and several farms varying in size from a few
hundred acres to several thousand acre complexes.

There are two entities that provide Fire Protection and Emergency
Medical Services within the Town of Kendall, The Fire District and
the Fire Department. The Fire District is responsible for Fire
Protection. This District (aka, Kendall Fire District) is where a Fire
Tax is levied upon the public. These Tax dollars are used toward
Fire Protection in many ways as follows; Fire Trucks, Firefighting
equipment such as hose and nozzles, Personal Protective
Equipment (i.e. Coats, boots, helmets, etc.) Self Contained
Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), insurance, rental space for
equipment, fire hydrant and water fees, training and maintenance.
Please note, there is no mention of the Ambulance which will be
addressed later in this article.  
The Fire Tax in the Town of Kendall is very low when compared
to surrounding fire protection agencies. This is due in part by the
uniqueness of having both a Fire District and a Fire Department in
the Town, along with very stringent attention to where and how
these Tax dollars are spent.

The second entity, The Kendall Fire Department, provides the
members to operate the Fire Districts equipment and owns the
property and building where the Districts equipment is housed. It
also owns, maintains, and operates the totally volunteer, no
charge, Ambulance service. The Fire Departments monetary
funds are generated by fund raisers such as the Annual Carnival
in July and the Turkey Raffle in November along with any
donations given directly or indirectly through the United Way.
(Our United Way # is 2109). These funds are used for building
utilities, maintenance, insurance, improvements, uniforms,
ambulance supplies and maintenance, medical training, new
ambulance purchase, and associated fees.

As you may be able to see, the benefit of having two entities is
what enables the Fire District to keep the Taxes low due to not
having to finance its’ own building, land and operation of
Ambulance service.
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