Elsmere Fire Company Bunk-in Program

The Elsmere Fire Company would like to welcome our 2025 Bunk-In Students Payton Kothe and Ethan Pellerin.

Payton joins us from the Olive Fire Department and is persuing degree in Computer Numerical Control Machining from Hudson Valley Community College. Ethan is from Rexford FD and is enrolled in the Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cyber Security program at SUNY Albany.

Welcome gentleman, do great things!

The annual New York state burn ban is in effect from March 16 through May 14. Open burning is prohibited in New York, with some exceptions. Guidelines are available from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: https://on.ny.gov/3iehWWk

The Elsmere Fire Company is currently accepting applications to our Bunk-in Program for the Fall 2025 semester!

The Bunk-in Program provides free student housing to volunteer firefighters who serve with the Elsmere Fire District while attending college in the Capital Region.

To qualify for the program, you must be a volunteer firefighter currently enrolled in college courses in the Capital Region.

Know a student who might be interested? Message us, or find out more about our program here: https://elsmerefire.org/fire-company/bunk-in-program/

News Channel 13 featured our own Hayden Kothe and his service through the Bunk-In Program. Learn about how Hayden got his start in the program and how Elsmere helps him meet his education goals.

Fire, EMS service offers free housing to recruit college students There’s a struggle to find volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Capital Region fire departments have been spreading the word in hopes of recruiting new volunteers.

Here is part 2 of a two-part Spotlight News article, which highlights the Elsmere Fire Company Bunk-In program along with our partners at Delmar Bethlem EMS.

Living the life: Fire Department, EMS recruit with bunk-in program part 2 This is the second in a two-part series on how local emergency services are thinking “outside of the box” to solve volunteer shortages. ELSMERE — The Elsmere Fire Company and the Delmar-Bethlehem E…