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.
“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 firemen as part of the greater plan to balance the city’s 2020 budget.