Get the facts behind some of the top workplaces in the Rochester area. Olivia Lopez, Todd Clausen
The sign catches your eye because, well, you don’t see a lot of neon signs anymore.
Topped by golden-orange “flames” that cover the word “FIRE,” it’s the marker for the Rochester Fire Equipment Co. It’s been hanging outside the business for as long as company owner Richard Child can remember, and he started working there — in the business his father founded — more than half a century ago.
“The fire used to flash,” Child said, until officials made the owners stop the flashing. “They said it was a distraction to drivers.”
That’s news to longtime manager Lisa DeFiore. “I just thought it was broken,” she said with a laugh.
Flickering fires are something most people don’t want to see, unless it’s a campfire. Rochester Fire Equipment sells and services extinguishers and other kinds of fire-suppression systems, like automatic ones. Most of the customers are businesses, such as restaurants and gas stations. The work also includes periodic and mandated testing of air tanks for some local fire departments, Child said.
Russell Child, his dad, started the original company, Rochester Safety Equipment Co., in 1943. That business, quite naturally, sold all kinds of safety equipment, from respirators to goggles to gloves, “anything to do with safety,” said Richard Child.
That also included the sale of fire extinguishers, but not the service end. When the service aspect was added in 1956, the spin-off company Rochester Fire Equipment was created.
The business covers a city block, with entrances at 64 Marshall St. and 83 Howell St., running just off Monroe Avenue. At one time, Russell Child added on by buying and demolishing two buildings for the “back shop” and parking lot.
Russell Child borrowed $1,000 from his sister to start the original company, his son said. Things were pretty low-key at the beginning.
“He used to deliver his packages by bus at first,” Richard Child said. Later, Russell Child invented a type of fan guard that did really well, his son said.
“The old fans had a metal guard, but you could still stick your fingers in there,” Richard Child said. “With his fan guards, you couldn’t stick anything in them. He sold thousands and thousands of them to the military.”
One of Richard’s brothers (another of Russell’s sons), Donald Child, ran the safety-equipment aspect of the business for years before that closed around 1989. Yet another brother (and son of Russell), Jonathan Child, still works with Rochester Fire Equipment.
About 65 percent of the business is service-related and the other 35 percent is sales, DeFiore said. “A lot of people come in off the street, and we do sell to individuals, too,” she said.
The service area covers about a 50-mile radius, extending to areas like Geneva, the Southern Tier and parts of Orleans County. The company has three vans and two box-trucks, DeFiore said — as well as that eye-catching neon sign that flickers no more.
Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.
Rochester Fire Equipment Co.
Founded: Original company, Rochester Safety Equipment Co., started in 1943. Rochester Fire Equipment Co. spun off in 1956.
Location: 64 Marshall St., Rochester.
Executives: Richard Child, owner and president.
Employees: 12.
Website:www.rochesterfire.com.