About me

My name is Nyq Kabelev and I have been a volunteer firefighter for the Irvington Fire Department for the last 5 years, but sadly, I cannot serve you anymore in this capacity.

I continue to serve as a volunteer, Ex-Captain and an EMT for the Irvington Volunteer Ambulance Corps and as a volunteer rescue technician for the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services Special Operations Technical Rescue Team.

I was a recipient of the annual Chief’s Award from Irvington FD in 2008. I also received a life saving citation from the Irvington Police Department and a Special Commendation from US Congress for life saving actions during hurricane Irene as a member of the county Technical Rescue Team, along with recognition from the Westchester County Board of Legislators for the same actions.

I currently hold the following fire/rescue/EMS certifications: FireFighter level I state and national certification, NYS FireFighter level II, NYS Fire officer level I, Fire service instructor level I state and national certification, Fire service instructor level II state and national certification, NYS Rescue technician level I, NYS Rescue technician level II, EVOC, federal NIMS ICS-100, NYS Fire police, Ice rescue technician, Ice rescue instructor and NYS EMT-B and AHA CPR instructor certifications.

I have a total training log of over 1300 hours and was consistently among the most active responders in the Irvington Fire Department.

My passion in firefighting is primary search and rapid intervention. These disciplines inspire me because they are so demanding and because they require both physical and intellectual efforts.

• Primary search is sort of a "fire recon" - rapid search and rescue of civilians and location of the seat of fire during initial stages of the fire suppression, often in zero visibility and before water is appied to the fire.
• Rapid intervention is all about rescuing the firefighters who became trapped, lost or missing during the fire. This is an "insurance policy" for the firefighters.

I live, work and serve here in Irvington. I am a computer scientist by training and pretty much all my adult life I worked for the same company that developed world's first FDA-approved non-invasive instrument that helps dermatologists detect melanoma. I am currently a head of R&D for this company.

This May, on the fifth anniversary of my volunteer career, I was removed from the Irvington Fire Department and was asked to return all my equipment. The reason: I refused to join the corporation named Irvington Fire Company Inc (hereby referred to as corporation). I had resigned from the corporation two years ago and yet had continued to be one of the most active responders in the Irvington Fire Department. I resigned because, in my opinion, I was experiencing sexual harassment by one of the corporation’s officers (not of the Fire Department!). My claim has been investigated and substantiated by the Village Administration and an independent administrative arbitrator. I refused to re-join the corporation because I don’t believe that the management of the corporation has done anything on their side to investigate the claim and because I continue to disagree with their managerial and fiscal practices, especially their fund-raising, spending and lack of transparency to the donors and taxpayers.

Under NYS law, I was eligible to continue to serve in the Irvington Fire Department without being a member of the corporation until the Irvington Fire Company Inc. was recognized by the Village as the fire company on November 21, 2011. In fact, I remained to be one of the most active members of the department after my resignation from the corporation. But from November 21st, 2011 on, the only way anyone could volunteer to serve as a firefighter in our village, is via this single corporation called Irvington Fire Company Inc.

This is not a campaign for my eligibility and membership. I was already invited to a number of neighboring fire departments, but I politely put those invitations on hold. This is a fight for our future volunteers and whether they will be given a chance to serve in a fair and non-hostile work environment.