Early Wednesday morning Michael Farca and his colleagues walked through heavy smoke and flames in the basement of a multi-tenant Greenvale building in search of trapped people and precious items.
This is remarkable in itself: people risking their lives by entering burning, smoke-filled buildings to save people and property.
The fact that Farca and his colleagues are firefighters does not diminish their bravery. In reality, it makes it even more remarkable because they face dangerous situations like this on a regular basis.
That Farca, like his firefighter colleagues in Nassau County and around the state outside cities, are unpaid volunteers further enhances our appreciation of what they do. And it raises a question of whether relying on volunteers is the best way to protect ourselves in times of fire.
On Wednesday, Farca, a member of the Roslyn Highland Fire Department, noticed a surprising tenant on the building directory of the Greenvale strip shopping center—a Jewish synagogue, Chabad of Greenvale. The synagogue was in the basement, and smoke was pouring out of the windows.
As part of a truck team that searched the building, Farca was asked to force open a door in the basement that could not be accessed so the team could search for fire.
Once he realized he was in a synagogue, Farca said, he knew he had to search for the Torah scrolls.
The Torah is Judaism’s central sacred text. It contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and serves as the foundation of Jewish law, teachings and tradition. Farca, who is Jewish, understood this very well
Farca located the ark that contained the Torah to see if the scrolls were inside. They were and Farca retrieved them. He was captured in a photo leaving the building with the Torah firmly in his hands.
He said that although he is getting all the praise for saving the Torah scrolls, he shares the credit with his fellow firefighters.
“It’s a group effort and there is no one person who stands out. Sometimes you get the glory picture, but that’s not what this is about; this is really about helping the community,” Farca said.
Sadly, New York State faces a serious decline in the number of fire and emergency response volunteers like Farca — with possibly deadly consequences.
The Firefighters Association of the State of New York is seeking to combat this with a recruitment effort, but that push is now in its 16th year.
John D’Alessandro, the association secretary, said that in 2023 and 2024 New York “led the nation in fire deaths.” In the first four months of 2025, New York was placed at No. 2 in the country for this year’s fire deaths.
“So you can see where the number of people plays a direct part in the ability of a fire department to deal with an emergency situation,” he said.
The Firefighters Association said there are currently approximately 80,000 volunteer firefighters statewide compared to 120,000 20 years ago.
Many local fire departments, the association said, are continuing to see “significant decline.”
“Most of the citizens in the State of New York don’t realize that their fire and emergency response is provided by volunteers,” D’Alessandro said. He said over 85% of the state’s fire and emergency response is comprised of volunteers.
The firefighters receive workers’ compensation, death benefits, training stipends, and occasionally small on-call payments or pension awards. These are intended to cover medical care, lost income, burden costs and long-term risks.
But the volunteer firefighters don’t earn regular wages per hour or shift.
D’Alessandro said the public also does not know that this system is not working.
“They also don’t realize that we’re facing a growing public safety problem and that simply is: We need more people,” D’Alessandro said.
This clearly is an issue that needs to be addressed both locally and at the state level.
That can start by answering the questions of why there has been such a dramatic decline in volunteer firefighters and at what point the state considers paying firefighters if that trend cannot be reversed.
In explaining the decline, D’Alessandro said many New Yorkers aren’t aware that fire and emergency responders are comprised of volunteer forces, which may be one reason.
Another reason may be the growing difficulty the average person faces in making ends meet. Are more people who might be volunteering with fire departments working second jobs or staying home to take care of children while their spouse works?
Or have the strands of community frayed to the point that more people do not believe in volunteering for something as dangerous and time-consuming as being a firefighter?
Based on the state’s shockingly high number of fire deaths, we believe it is long past the time for state officials to address how firehouses are being staffed.
Farca explained his rationale for joining the Roslyn Heights Fire Department.
“When you get to a certain point in life, you start to wonder what’s the greater purpose,” said Farca. “At some point, I just said, you know, you gotta think about giving something back to the community.”
One thing is clear: We need more Michael Farcas.
