HAMBURG, N.Y. — While hundreds of thousands of people enjoy the Erie County Fair, there are safety hazards with all of the rides, food vendors and buildings in use.

That's why, for nearly 80 years, the Armor Volunteer Fire Company is there, with their own substation right on the fairgrounds.  

Patrick Murphy is the first assistant chief of the fire company, which is based right in Hamburg.

"For the duration of the 12 days of the fair, our primary role is fire protection during the operating hours of the fair," he said.

"We’re responsible for making sure that if there is an incident on the grounds that involves a life hazard or a safety hazard, we’re available to respond to that," said Murphy.

"Our goal is always to have a fully staffed engine crew," Murphy continued. "We’re sitting in the fire truck now so we’re looking to fill all the seats in this apparatus — that’s a six-man crew."

"The barns used to be a big hazard for us in fire, but those have improved over the years," he said. "But we still a lot of propane on the grounds, a lot of electricity deployed in temporary fashions that are unique hazards that don’t often exist places. So that’s why we want to be present, available and ready to respond if we do have an incident so it doesn’t become a major incident."

"We have major incidents once every few years," said Murphy. "The last one we had was the Weidner’s chicken stand burned up several years ago. We were able to respond to it immediately and prevent it from getting any worse than it already was."

"Our department is really all hands on deck for the 12 days and our folks are extraordinarily generous with their time," he said.

"I came here as a kid. My kids are coming here now. It means a lot for us to be here and that makes it a lot easier to invest ourselves in being present, being available even at some personal inconvenience because you recognized that is something that’s bigger than all of us," Murphy concluded.

For everything you need to know about the 2022 Erie County Fair, click here.