COLONIE -- With an all-volunteer force, you might expect Colonie's firefighting to be a low-cost operation.

You'd be wrong.

Colonie spends $8.8 million, more than the city of Schenectady's full-time paid force of firefighters. And the Capital Region suburb has more fire vehicles than the cities of Albany, Schenectady and Troy combined, a Times Union investigation has found.

And while the three cities have 13 chiefs who can take their SUVs home, Colonie has 35.

There are 123 fire vehicles in the town, compared with 98 in the three cities, a Times Union review of records revealed.

In a time of fiscal austerity, Colonie's spending on firefighting flies under the radar. That's because the town has 12 different fire districts, each with their own budgets, leaders and trucks. It is a system none of the fire departments designed, and the volunteers don't hesitate to put their lives at risk battling blazes when they occur. Over the years, however, suggestions the departments consolidate have largely been quietly rejected or ignored.

Town Supervisor Paula Mahan defends the high number of vehicles, calling comparison to nearby cities "apples and oranges." She says some departments are taking steps to cut costs, but the total cost of fire services in town has risen 6 percent over the past three years.

"We have talked to the fire departments to ask them to keep their costs down as much as possible," she said. "Times are different now, and they have to find ways to save money."

Daniel Sullivan, deputy chief of the West Albany Volunteer Fire Department, said the number of vehicles is large but a result of the volunteer system. The number of people responding to a call can vary dramatically based on the time of day.

"We can go to work pretty fast with a lot of people," he said. "We had a structure fire up on Brickley (Drive), we had 30 guys in nothing flat. It does seem like a lot, and it does seem like overkill, but the way the system was designed we have nothing to do with."

Sullivan, a chief or deputy chief for the past 14 years, opens the back of the SUV he drives to display the equipment he carries at all times. He's got gear, a helmet, oxygen tank and mask, as well as tools to force entry into a burning building. He carries a defibrillator, flashlights and fire extinguishers.

"It's not just a car people cruise around in," he said. "We're in them all the time. That said, we're on call all the time. More often than not, my wife's been left in the grocery store, in a restaurant, you name it. If we go away on vacation, the vehicle is handed down to the next ranking officer."

The cities have far fewer chief's vehicles -- and in Troy, only three of nine leaders with access to SUVs can take theirs home. Phil D'Angelo, a commissioner with the Midway Fire District, said the chiefs in Colonie are not paid. In the cities, they make six figures in salary and benefits.

The town's departments sometimes cooperate. Midway, Fuller and Colonie village reached an agreement: The village sold its ladder truck, and the two other departments agreed to provide theirs when needed. In return, Midway and Fuller gave up their rescue vehicles and let Colonie take the lead.

But Kevin Terry, the immediate past chief of the Fuller Road department, said that agreement was put in writing because a change in chiefs can lead to an idea being abandoned. The three departments wanted to make sure the cooperation lasted.

The town of Colonie has no direct control over spending on fire services. Two of the fire companies are operated by the villages. Four others -- Fuller Road, Latham, Maplewood and Shaker Road/Loudonville -- are private fire protection districts that sell fire services to the town. The remaining six are fire districts that have elected boards and set their own budgets and tax rates.

Unlike villages and cities, towns cannot create their own fire departments, said Dennis Michalski, spokesman for the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

"They've never been given the authority by the state Legislature," he said. "It goes back in history to when the population was centered around the cities and villages."

While the firefighters are almost all volunteers, their operations come at a cost to taxpayers -- and that price varies widely.

In the Schuyler Heights Fire District, property owners are charged $2.42 per $1,000 of the assessed value of their homes for firefighting. For an average home assessed at $140,000 -- and worth $207,400 on the market -- that means a tax bill of $338.80.

The Shaker Road/Loudonville Fire Department charges less than half what Schuyler Heights does for the same service, $1.17 per $1,000. For the average homeowner, that's a bill of $163.80.

More Information 12398 FireFire vehicles in thevehicles in Town of ColonieAlbany (50), Schenectady (20), and Troy (28) Discuss this story on Facebook with staff writer Tim O'Brien from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Monday. Join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/TimOBrienReporter. You can also comment at http://blog.timesunion.com/colonie. See More Collapse

"They have no control over the tax base over which the budget is spread," said Jack Clark, an attorney representing seven districts. "The Schuyler Heights fire district at one point in time had big industrial users. Because there is less property of high value, the hit is bigger."

Shaker Road/Loudonville has a budget twice the size of Schuyler Heights, but it is able to spread the cost more, he said: "Their tax base is twice as big with all the expensive houses in Loudonville and the commercial development along Route 9."

Despite the disparity of costs, there has been little push to find a way to charge residents a more equitable rate for fire protection.

The 12 fire districts' boundaries were set in 1957 when the town was largely farmland. After a 1983 story in the Times Union about the fire districts and their failure to share costs, talk of consolidation swiftly died down.

In 1988, when he became EMS Committee coordinator, Bill Schmitt told the newspaper "we're in a period of transition from 12 individual departments to one service."

That transition never came.

"It hasn't because (the departments) are too parochial," said Schmitt, a commissioner with the Midway Fire Department who recently retired as the town's deputy chief of fire services.

In 2003, the town paid a consulting firm to study fire operations.

"From a townwide perspective, the system is decentralized and appears to have some built-in redundancies," the report concluded. "It could be argued there is more equipment than required. However, the amount and type of equipment results from the need for each department to provide services to a geographic area of the town. Accordingly, these departments acquire apparatus and equipment which meets their individual needs. If there were one volunteer or career fire department serving the town, the number of vehicles would likely be less."

The state does offer some grant money for districts that want to consolidate or merge, but they have become very competitive, said Thomas LaBelle, executive director of the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs. Last year, the North Greenbush fire department consolidated with the Defreestville department.

Schmitt and D'Angelo said they tried to get a grant to study a merger of Midway with the Stanford Heights Department a quarter mile up the road. Twice they were denied.

If the town wants to review whether 12 departments with 35 chiefs are needed, there are ways to make that determination, said John Granito, a consultant on firefighting with Management Partners, a firm that provides management advice to governments.

The National Fire Protection Association sets a standard for suburban companies: For a fire in a single-family home, they should be able to turn out 10 volunteers within 10 minutes 80 percent of the time. The volunteers should be able to launch their assault on the flames within two minutes.

"You do computer response mapping. You look at the existing fire stations. You look at a reasonable speed, how long does it take you to get to various parts of the community," he said. "You then look at the average number of volunteers who turn out at a call."

Leaders of Colonie's departments make clear their devotion to their volunteer roles. Chiefs like Gregory Serio of the Verdoy Fire Department talk about how they manage their departments and work to cut costs. Where once departments paid extra for white or yellow vehicles, they now buy standard red. Where once they bought custom-made trucks, they now purchase floor models.

"We're trying to be more cognizant of what other departments have so we're not duplicating services," Serio said.

Sullivan, the West Albany deputy chief, said some equipment has been ordered jointly.

"It's tough to get 12 people to agree on one thing, but we have worked consciously toward doing that," he said.

Some of the departments have specialties that often take them beyond their geographic boundaries: West Albany handles hazardous material spills, Boght Hills and Verdoy have boats and handle water rescues, and the village of Colonie department is trained in rescuing people trapped in confined spaces.

Serio said revisiting the departments' boundaries would be a more productive public discussion. Farmland has been developed in ways that make many of the boundaries outdated, he said.

"If you want to maintain the volunteer fire system, and we're strong proponents of that, they have to remain close to the neighborhoods," he said.

Reach O'Brien at 454-5092 or tobrien@timesunion.com