RAMAPO — A firefighting unit backed by local rabbis has raised alarms with fire departments and government officials, who are concerned about a possible lack of training that could endanger residents and property.
Matzilei Aish, which reportedly has about 34 members, is moving into the grounds of the Monsey Fire Department and other departments that serve several Ramapo communities. Matzilei Aish leaders aim to serve Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic communities and have encouraged residents through advertisements and word of mouth to call their emergency number instead of 911, officials said.
Officials are concerned about the training and experience of group members and whether the group will report its activities to law enforcement and the state. Failure to do so could lead to insurance reimbursement issues for residents whose property is damaged by fire.
“This is a rogue fire department that needs to be taken to task,” said Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco. “If they want to join a fire department, they should join. We don’t know the capabilities of this rogue fire department.”
It’s hard to gauge how active Matzilei Aish has been. Chris Kear, Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services coordinator, said members of Matzilei Aish began fighting fires in Monsey and the Spring Valley area a few years ago in their private vehicles with fire extinguishers.
Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said he has contacted the city’s fire chiefs and police and they are not yet aware of any Matzilei Aish activity in the city.
Officials noted that members of Matzilei Aish do not participate in ongoing training programs offered by the Rockland Fire Training Center. They said the unit’s members reportedly have taken basic Firefighter 1 classes at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute.
Filing insurance claims can be tricky without the right data. Falco and other officials said Matzilei Aish has not provided training certifications or other qualifications to the state or anything “that is approved by the system that assures the insurer that fire damage actually occurred and was handled appropriately.”
Rockland Fire Department Coordinator Alerts Officials and State Agencies
Kear recently wrote a letter to Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht and County Executive Ed Day regarding Matzilei Aish’s activities in Ramapo.
Kear said the group has purchased a used ladder truck and is looking to expand into communities with large Orthodox Jewish populations, such as Wesley Hills, New Hempstead, Airmont, Chestnut Ridge and parts of New City in Clarkstown.
“They have publicly and privately encouraged residents to call them directly, and not to call 911,” Kear wrote. “Furthermore, they have advertised their intention to expand to additional geographic locations … With the new addition of a ladder truck and their intention to expand, the potential for a very dangerous situation continues to grow.”
Kear said he and other fire chiefs are concerned that an “unreliable and dysfunctional group like this — that has no real experience in firefighting and emergency response — will find itself in a situation that will have a disastrous or even deadly outcome.”
Kear said he contacted the Bergen training unit in 2023 and was rebuffed. A response letter from the Bergen facility’s attorney said, “LPSI currently only provides fire training to the organization you named in your letter. It would be inappropriate, and perhaps even illegal, for LPSI to deny training to any particular organization or individual.”
Kear said he has been in contact with the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and the New York State Department of Labor’s Public Employee Safety and Health Division, better known as PESH. He said James’ office claims there is an ongoing investigation into Matzilei Aish.
James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for the Labor Ministry’s PESH unit said Thursday that Matzilei Aish does not fall under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Ramapo’s Woodpecker: ‘Call 911 in case of fire’
Specht said Ramapo has no ties to Matzilei Aish, a private nonprofit organization.
“The city does not support this organization, financially or otherwise,” Specht said. “We urge all residents to call 911 in the event of a fire or related emergency. No tax dollars are given to this entity by the city of Ramapo.”
Day, the county executive, said state intervention is needed to address the situation, but the attorney general’s office and PESH have failed to act. He said Rockland firefighters and others have been meeting for months about Matzilei Aish.
“There has been no lack of effort,” Day said. “We want to see this addressed before a tragedy occurs. Sending untrained personnel to a fire or emergency puts people’s lives and firefighters’ lives at risk.”
He said that members of Matzilei Aish could be arrested if they obstruct the fire department or police.
“We either need the authority through state legislation or the state agencies need to take action,” he said. “For whatever reason, the state is not doing it.”
The leader of Matzilei Aish, Rabbi Yehezkel Weiss, a follower of Skver Hasidim based in New Square, could not immediately be reached. A man who answered at Matzilei Aish said it was an emergency line and that he did not have a number to reach Weiss.
In an interview with the online publication Shtetl, Weiss said the Matzilei Aish group now has 35 members, but acknowledged that the volunteers are not yet fully qualified. Local rabbis, he said, do not believe they are ready to “handle life-threatening situations.”
Weiss also acknowledged that his members can’t fight fires in buildings because they can’t wear air-supplied helmets because of their beards. The National Fire Protection Association requires firefighters to be clean-shaven in order to safely wear an air mask.
Kear said he has received photos of Matzilei Aishi members fighting fires without the necessary protective gear or air packs, citing Matzilei Aishi’s Instagram page.
Monsey Chief: Volunteer Firefighters Caught in the Middle
Monsey Fire Chief Hugh Jacobsen said Weiss formed the separatist group because he was uncomfortable with Monsey’s Orthodox Jewish firefighters responding to calls on the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Jacobsen said Monsey volunteers have permission from their rabbis to respond to emergencies on the Sabbath and do what it takes to be a firefighter.
He noted that the predominantly Jewish volunteer department has volunteers who span the spectrum of Judaism, from nonreligious and Reform to Orthodox and Hasidim. The department also has female volunteers.
Jacobsen also said Weiss initially claimed the Monsey department’s response time was slow, but the chief denied this.
Jacobsen said Matzilei Aish has created a bit of a morale problem for Monsey firefighters, who don’t want confrontations with their neighbors. He said there have been no confrontations at emergencies with members of Matzilei Aish, who he believes monitor their radio calls and don’t respond.
He said his volunteers in Monsey were harassed by some residents, including spitting at them and throwing rocks at police trucks.
Weiss told Shtetl that he condemned the alleged intimidation and violence.
George Cich, a firefighter from Spring Valley, Columbia, said that “sooner or later they’re going to do something wrong and someone’s going to get hurt, maybe even die.”
He said he wouldn’t trust his firefighter son to Matzilei Aish members. Cich also heads the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force, which reports substandard housing that violates fire and safety codes. The task force has previously raised concerns with the state about independent fire departments like Matzilei Aish.
“I don’t know how they’re going to respond if the fire gets too intense,” Cich said. “I rely on the training from the Rockland County Fire Training Center.”
Reporter Nancy Cutler contributed to this report.
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com Twitter: @lohudlegal
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ramapo NY Matzilei Aish rogue fire department raises concerns for officials
