Firehouse Opens Mini-Car Track

 

Dominick Guardino, 9, of Middletown, drives a remote-controlled car Thursday on the new track behind the Mechanicstown Fire Department Station No. 2 in the Town of Wallkill. Firefighter George Rosado stands on the track, which will officially open to the public on Saturday. Times Herald-Record/TOM BUSHEY

By Keith Goldberg

Times Herald-Record

Posted: August 21, 2009 – 2:00 AM

TOWN OF WALLKILL — The sign greets you as you pull into Station No. 2 of the Mechanicstown Fire Department:

Station 2 Raceway.

Walk behind the firehouse and miniature cars and trucks kick up dust clouds as they whiz around a large dirt oval, as their operators look down from a wooden platform.

“This oval is a symbol,” Mechanicstown firefighter Dominick Guardino says. “It’s a life preserver.”

Like most volunteer fire departments, Mechanicstown is low on volunteers — just 30 active members, compared with 75 in the 1980s. So the department is taking an unusual step: it’s getting into the remote-control-car-racing business.

The fire company has built a track that will be open to the public every weekend. And firefighters will be on hand, racing their own cars and showcasing their fire equipment.

It’s a way to raise money for the company, but more importantly, Guardino says, to attract new members. Going to schools, hosting firehouse tours and ridealongs haven’t helped slow the decline in membership.

“Fire services need to think outside the box,” Guardino says. “For so long, we’ve tried the traditional stuff. It doesn’t work.”

District Fire Commissioner Lee Williams said some commissioners were skeptical of the idea at first, but everyone’s on board now. He scoffs at the notion that the fire company is straying from its primary business: fire protection.

“The business of the Mechanicstown Fire District is to provide the best fire protection for our residents,” Williams says. “In any way, shape or form we can get more members, we’ll do it.”

The fire company spent $500 toward the track’s construction; the rest came from donations. Guardino says they wouldn’t have been able to build the track without them. The fire district did not put up any money for the project, and Williams says it will not.

Racers will be charged $15 for the first class they enter, $5 thereafter. The first day of racing is Saturday. The company hopes to host a full season of racing next year.

If the track isn’t able to pay for itself, the company will pull the plug.

kgoldberg@th-record.com

Times Herald Record Online