Fire Protection Changes Coming to Rhinebeck, NY

RHINEBECK, N.Y. – The village of Rhinebeck Fire Department will begin to cover on April 1 172 properties currently covered by the Hillside Fire Department, officials said on Monday.

During a Town Board meeting on Monday, Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia told firefighters who wanted to retain coverage that it was their own notice that led to the move.

“You let us know that you were dissolving the fire district in October and I’ve been in constant contact with (the district treasurer) …and all my communication has been through her, with as far as I know with the chief’s knowledge,” she said. “I’ve never heard from any commissioner or any fire chief.”

Town Board members were given a written notice earlier this year of the Hillside Fire Department’s intent to dissolve.

However, department President John Hudock insisted the town’s plan came as a surprise and that the department’s membership had grown over the past two months.

“Yes, we were hurting for a while,” he said. “Since then, we have past members that are up to date on training, have returned.”

Hillside Chief Mark Long reported that when talks to dissolve the company began, the department had 10 members, with only two certified for interior firefighting, but the department has increased to 15 members, with six certified for interior calls.

The Hillside Fire District – an independent taxing entity in the southern area of Rhinebeck — consists of 448 properties in a formal district, with another 172 properties covered separately under what was a $38,200 contract with the fire department as the Hillside Fire Protection District overseen by the Rhinebeck Town Board.

Under the change, Hillside Fire Protection District properties will be covered by the village’s Rhinebeck Fire Department at $41,107 for the remainder of 2025. The village department already has a contract to cover 75 properties in the town’s Rhinebeck Fire Protection District, which is adjacent to the Hillside protection district.

Rhinebeck village fire officials said they have 60 active members, with 27 members certified for interior calls, and also have about 30 emergency medical technicians.

Spinzia said even with Hillside’s increase in roster size, the distance that some of the new members live from the protection district is a problem.

“I know that you’ve gotten new members, but four of the members don’t even live in Rhinebeck,” she said. “There’s one in Elizaville, two in Milan, and one in Salt Point.”

Hudock countered that he didn’t know which one lived in Salt Point and that the remainder have businesses in Rhinebeck.

“We’ve never had a problem getting out for calls,” he said. “If you look at the protective district, Rhinebeck (village fire equipment) is further than we are.”

Hillside Fire Department also found itself in the center of unwanted attention on Dec. 30, 2024, with the arrest of new member Cyril Uebbing on charges of falsely reporting incidents to Dutchess County 911. State police reported that between Dec. 23 and Dec. 26, he made five calls involving false reports of black smoke coming from a chimney at Southlands Farm, odor of sulfur in the area of Primrose Hill Road and Ackert Hook Road, an ATV in a ditch in the area of Mill Road and Lynwood Road, smoke near Habitat on the Hudson, and the outdoor odor of gas near Riverview Drive and Mill Road.

However, Spinzia on Tuesday said she was not troubled by the arrest because firefighters with the department are able to deal with the discipline of their membership.

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