Gowanda Volunteer Fire Dept.

Chickens are looking good we start serving at 11

We would like to take this opportunity and thank all the teams that participated in this past weekends water-rope rescue jamboree in Gowanda. It was a great weekend of training and team building. This event would not of been successful if it wasn't for many dedicated fire and law enforcement personnel both volunteer and career at the local, county and state levels, and the support from the community. Thank you to Erie County Regional Tech Team Leader Josh Myers, Erie County E...mergency Services, and instructor's for teaching and keeping everyone safe. Thank you to our own team members for participating and making the other teams feel at home with your hospitality. We are especially thankful to the property owners for allowing us to access your property and train. Thank you to the Village of Gowanda Board, Lesefske Family, Sprague's in Versailles, The Town of Hanover, for use of the boat launch, for boat operations. Thank you to Zoar Valley Rafting and Zoar Valley Paddling Club for your input on the training. Thank you again to the community, businesses and to anyone we may have forgotten for all your support over the years. We had members as far away as Rochester, Batavia and Niagara County, along with other teams from within Erie County. We look forward again to hosting the regional training Jamboree October 2-3 2021 in Gowanda. See more

Some photos taken today from training at Valentine Flats and Versailles. Photos courtesy of TR-1 Josh Myers.

Christmas in Gowanda 2

Christmas in gowanda

Gowanda and surrounding area Reflective Street Address Sign Campaign Having properly displayed house numbers on a home can help first responders find your home quickly in the event of an emergency. Many residents overlook the fact that ordinary street numbers attached to the front of a house are often impossible to see at night. This is true regardless of the season, but it becomes particularly critical in the fall and winter during shorter days. When daylight hours get sho...rter, and there is fog, rain or snow, locating a poorly marked residence from the street becomes much more difficult. Emergency personnel cannot help you if they cannot locate your residence. Reflective house numbers allow first responders to identify your home quickly in emergencies, saving precious seconds. As a public service, the Gowanda Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. has partnered with Mc Cormack’s Hardware Store, located at 21 West Main Street in Gowanda and is selling custom-made reflective house number signs. The signs measure 6 by 18, is constructed of sturdy metal. They are painted a bright reflective red on both sides. House numbers of bright silver-white reflective material, which stand out both day and night, are affixed. The signs can be made for either horizontal or vertical installation and have pre-drilled holes to make attachment to mailbox posts or other objects easy. They make thoughtful gifts and can be purchased by residents of any town. Because the reflective house number signs are custom-made, each sign must be purchased at Mc Cormack’s Hardware Store in Gowanda. Proceeds from each sign made and purchased from Mc Cormack’s, they will send a donation of those proceeds back to the Fire Department that is responsible for fire protection where that resident resides. The cost of the sign is $15.00 plus tax. We would like to thank you in advance of your purchase of the sign. This is a great opportunity for everyone involved helping each other out. We are grateful to McCormack’s Hardware for this partnership. Cost of Sign $15.00 plus Tax

We would like to thank everyone who came out this past weekend and supported us during our Chicken BBQ. We had yet another great day of sunshine and you came out bought up all of that delicious Chicken. Thank You. We also want to let you know that we will NOT be doing a Halloween Parade this year. For those of you in the Hidi area of the Village, Our Hidi Hose company stationed on Beech St. will not be giving out the normal Apple Cider and Donuts. They will however have trea...t bags for the ghosts and goblins. (for as long as they last) We are also being told that there will NOT be any Trunk or Treating at the Free Methodist Church on West Main St. this year as precautionary measures. We hope everyone is able to have a safe and fun Halloween. As always please make sure to like and share our post as well as our page so that everyone knows what events we have coming up and stay tuned for up coming events.

Just sending out this little reminder of our up coming Chicken BBQ on Oct 4th. We are hoping for another great day of weather so we are able to see all of you while serving up them chicken.

Craft Show at our hall today 10-3. Over 30 different vendors. Chinese Auction with the drawing at 2:15 pm. Come get a jump on your holiday shopping. Hope to see you there.

Friends and Neighbors, We would like to inform the residents in and around the Village of Gowanda of an upcoming training exercise taking place. There will be no need for alarm with the large presence of out of town rescue personnel and vehicles. On September 12th and 13th, The Gowanda Fire Department will be participating in a weekend long Technical Rescue Jamboree. The weekend will consist of several area Technical Rescue Teams from various fire and law enforcement agenci...es from Western New York training in the Village of Gowanda and Zoar Valley areas. These are teams we often call upon and work with on rescue calls. On Saturday September 12th, the teams will participate in several training exercises in the Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area. On this day, the teams will utilize their skills in search and rescue techniques using ropes and rappelling down the embankments of Zoar Valley. These scenarios will take place off Valentine Flats, Vail Road at the Unger Road Parking lot area and possibly Deer Lick area off Point Peter Road. On Sunday September 13th, several swift water teams will deploy to the Cattaraugus Creek in the Village of Gowanda. The training will take place from the Aldrich Street bridge to the Main Street Bridge. The teams will be conducting training exercises to sharpen their skills in swift water rescue operations. Teams will deploy rafts and zodiac boats in the creek and rescue individuals in the water. On Sunday, the public may stop by and view the teams conducting these exercises. We just ask that you stay at safe distance from the teams. The training will start each day at approximately 830am and go into the afternoon hours. The Gowanda Fire Department is part of the Erie/Cattaraugus County Regional Technical Rescue Team. The County Regional Team is comprised of 11 different fire and law enforcement agencies from both Erie and Cattaraugus Counties. Members of the Gowanda Fire Department’s Special Operations Unit consists of members from the following fire companies that are in District 1, which is comprised of Gowanda, Dayton, Leon, South Dayton, Versailles, Perrysburg, Conewango, Gowanda Ambulance and members from Collins Fire Co. There is currently 27 team members that make up this specialized group for rope, swift water and ice rescue operations. Gowanda Fire Department is the lead agency for the Cattaraugus County District 1 team. We also train along side with the NYS Forest Rangers who patrol the Zoar Valley area in order to have a good and fluent working relationship when it comes time for a real rescue. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. Also if anyone takes any photos they would like to share with us you can send them to our Department email [email protected] or share them here on our FB page. See more

Hello again this is for all of our Chicken BBQ lovers we promised one more BBQ this summer so save the date... Oct 4th We hope to see another great turnout by all of our fantastic supporters. It is always nice to see all of you come through when you are picking up your Chickens. And as always please like and share our page so everyone knows what events we have coming up. Thank you and be safe out there.

Our Craft and Vendor show is still being planned to be held in Sept. this year We are taking the needed precautions to make it happen so we hope everyone will come out and support both the vendor/crafters and us for this event. And as always please help us out by liking and sharing our page so everyone knows what events we have coming up.

If you are looking for that last minute place to hold your party or get together with lots of open space we still have open dates this fall. just give Steve a call at 532-5356 and he will get you booked. Also don't forget to like and share our page so that everyone knows what events we have coming up.

We again want to thank all of you for the huge turn out and support for our Chicken BBQ today. We Sold out and about an hour and twenty minutes. We had a slight delay in cooking today due to the winds but we feel the chickens turned out good and we thank those of you when waited for your patience. And for those who where unable to get some mark your calendar for Oct. 4th when have scheduled one for for this year. keep an eye out here and for our signs around town when it gets closer. Thank You All and as always don't forget to like and share our page so everyone knows what events we have coming up.

Don't forget to get your GFD Chicken BBQ This Sunday Aug. 2nd we will start serving at 11am drive thru service only. Come in the drive by the recycle dumpsters and drive around back. Don't forget to like and share our page so everyone knows.

Yesterday evening We had a wonderful event at our hall. We had the dedication and blessing of our new Rescue Truck #7 and the helicopter Landing pad. We were able to honor and show our appreciation to all those who made these two very important things happen. The Landing Pad has made the transport of critical patients via Merci Flight significantly easier since it was installed. The new Truck #7 has already proven itself to be a great and valuable new piece of equipment that we our proud to have.

On Sunday 7-12-20 our Special Operations Rope Rescue you team which is made up over several members of Our Department along with members of some of the surrounding Departments of Collins, Perrysburg, Versailles, South Dayton, Leon, And Conewango held a drill/ training at Valentine Flats. This drill also included two great rope teams from Allegany fire Department and Westons Mills Fire Department. This was a well attended drill that gave all involved a high level of training that is unmatched by any type of class room or controlled environment. Being out in a real life setting was an eye opening experience for some of the newer team members and members who have never been in Zoar Valley before. This is some shots taken by one of our members. with hopefully more to come.

We had such a great response from all of our loyal supporters that we have decided to do another Chicken BBQ on August 2nd. Hopefully we will get the same turnout and you can enjoy our delicious chicken again this summer. Don't forget to like and share our page so that everyone knows what events we have coming up.

With summer coming into full swing and the pandemic restrictions starting to settle down. The thought of get togethers and graduation parties is on your mind. We have the perfect place with lots of room to be together and social distance at the same time. There is still plenty of open dates to rent our park on Sand Hill. You can call Steve at 532-5356 for information and rentals. Keep an eye out for our up coming event we will be advertising for soon. As always please like and share both our post and our page so everyone knows what we have going on.

It has been a busy week for us.