Rochester, NY Airport Firefighters - IAFF Local 1636

The Monroe County (NY) Airport Fire Fighters Association was chartered as Local No. 1636 of the International Association of Fire Fighters on June 17, 1966. Our Union consisted of just 9 members at that time but has since grown to our current level of 21 members. As a union, we are responsible for negotiating an acceptable wages and benefits package for the Fire Fighters and Fire Captains of the Greater Rochester International Airport Fire Department. We also work with the Airport Fire Chief and GRIA administration to ensure our members are provided with the appropriate working conditions, tools, and equipment to do their job as safely and efficiently as possible.

As Airport Fire Fighters, our members are entrusted with the protection of those travelers, visitors and employees who utilize the Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC). This includes our primary duty of responding to aircraft incidents and accidents, along with structural responses, vehicle and machinery accidents, fuel and fluid spills, and emergency medical responses to all building and roadways on airport property. We also conduct periodic fire and safety inspections on airport buildings, fire protection systems, fueling facilities, and vehicles that are used for fueling the aircraft.

Additionally, due to the specialized equipment we have on the airport, we have been requested to the scene of many of the larger incidents the area has seen including the fuel tanker fires on I-390 (1995) and W. Ridge Rd. (2003), and the train derailment in Charlotte (2001) to name a few.

On December 24, 2012, our members responded mutual aid to the scene of a large fire and active shooter incident in West Webster. Four firefighters were ambushed and shot while responding to an early morning fire, two of them - Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka - fatally. While being escorted by a SWAT team, our members applied the first water to that fire and were able to slow the spread to other homes.

Located just outside the city of Rochester, NY, the GRIA sees a passenger load of nearly 2,000,000 annually (departures and arrivals). In 2005, the total number of passengers using GRIA reached an all-time high of nearly 3 million passengers. The Monroe County Airport Professional Fire Fighters are employed by the County of Monroe and are members of the International Association of Fire Fighters, NY State Professional Fire Fighters Association, and Monroe County Professional Fire Fighters Association.