February, 2010

Two thousand nine was a year requiring change for the Plainfield Fire Department. Money is in short supply in the State of Michigan, and its government is passing off any possible expenditures to local government in order to maintain their own operations. The choice is simple for local government; we must cut expenses, cut services, or charge more for what we do.

Let me provide you with one example of how this roll down to the local government works. The Plainfield Fire Department has hosted a Firefighter Academy for the purpose of training new Paid-on-Call (POC) firefighters in Plainfield Township and other area departments for 13 of the last 15 years. I determined that due to possible complications with new curriculum provided by the State of Michigan fire service officials, we would not be hosting an Academy this year.

As it turns out, the State may add an additional challenge to the task of training new firefighters other than its curriculum; increased cost. Hosting an academy costs about $15,000 due to the wages of instructors, the required materials and certification fees. We anticipate an enrollment of 30 students per class at a cost of $500 per student. For some of the smaller departments this expense of training new firefighters uses their entire training budget for the year. The State Fire Marshal has proposed a new fee schedule which will increase the cost of providing an academy by at least 40%. The State will not be providing any more service for that increased cost, in fact, they may actually provide less service and assistance to local departments. Additionally, the State proposed a fee of $250 for the certification of new instructors and $50 for the recertification of current instructors. The State also will begin charging $50 for every fire inspector. For this charge, the Township or other local agency, receives virtually no benefit. We are not required to have State certifications for the fire and life safety inspections that we perform, some industries are mandated by the State. Instructors are only required to be certified to present Firefighter Academy classes, not our departmental training. The additional fees are proposed to support the positions that are currently in place.

Providing funding for emergency services in Plainfield Township can be a challenge. Fire departments are not inexpensive to operate. Apparatus costs more than many residential homes and equipment costs increase due to the necessary compliance with standards. The Township Board and Fire Department staff have worked to keep the expenses manageable. Purchases are made based on good financial theory with replacement of fire engines less often than the Kent County Fire Commission, a co-op of township departments. We received a grant for the purchase of new self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) from FEMA this year. This Assistance to Firefighters Grant provided over $225,000 for the purchase of 40 new SCBA units and spare bottles. This relieved some of the strain on our budget and provided a necessary piece of equipment for firefighting. The units being replaced were in need of constant repair and were not cost effective to maintain. Grants like this one are researched and prepared by my Administrative Assistant who has been successful on several occasions to date. Although this additional source of funding is extremely beneficial, it is not a guarantee that funds will continue to be made available for these types of purchases.

Plainfield is the fourth largest community in Kent County. It has a greater population than the Cities of Walker and Rockford combined, yet sometimes we are looked at as being “the same” as the townships around us. Many of the surrounding township departments rely on POC firefighters for the vast majority of their alarms. With a larger population, major thoroughfares and significant business and industry in Plainfield Township, there is a greater potential for emergency response and therefore a need for more reliable forms of staffing than only POC. In 2009, the fire department responded to nearly 2300 calls. It would be impossible to provide the same level of service with fewer personnel than we currently have. The staff we have now are highly committed, but are stretched very thin. We have adopted a staffing plan which some would refer to as minimalist philosophy on staffing as it is. We are the only department in the region utilizing part time firefighters as well as POC firefighters to keep costs down. Most fire departments who staff with full time firefighters have 80% or more of their budget designated for staffing. The Plainfield Fire Department uses 65% of its budget for staffing. This considerable difference allows us to relieve the general fund of the Township of a more costly fire department operation.

In spite of our efforts to keep personnel costs low year after year, two full time positions needed to be eliminated in 2009. One of our fulltime firefighters resigned in January to take a position with another department. We did not replace the position immediately for fear that the following year’s budget would not allow us to maintain the staffing levels. We were right to not fill the position and in fact the deputy fire chief’s position was also eliminated in order to cut necessary costs for 2009. The vacant firefighter’s position had been effectively used to fill vacations and sick days and minimize overtime costs. We are now covering those shifts, primarily, with part time firefighters. The deputy chief’s responsibilities have been absorbed by remaining administrative personnel; myself, the Assistant Chief, the lieutenants and my Administrative Assistant. This is possible primarily because of the downturn in construction with very few inspections and plan reviews needing to be performed by the Assistant Chief. The department operations are changing and, as I said earlier, personnel are stretched to perform all necessary tasks. Further full or part time staff reductions would most likely result in increased insurance costs for the residents and business owners due to a reclassification of the Township’s ISO rating.

In addition to reductions in fulltime positions we also reduced our POC staffing. I firmly believe that we need as large a contingent of committed and trained POC firefighters as we can recruit and retain. We depend on our POC firefighters to be trained and as capable as one of our fulltime Equipment Operators to perform the duties of firefighting. To help maintain that proficiency, firefighters must review the rudimentary elements of their job on a regular basis. We have recommitted to following a three year rotation that ensures that staff will be able to provide the service that residents have come to expect. As a result of our reviewing POC performance relative to training and response over the past year, we initiated minimum standards. Some of our personnel have experienced added work demands due to the strain in all industries in the State of Michigan, others moved out of state for full time employment, and others were found to be not as committed as they once were. As a result we cut/lost 14 POC personnel over the past year. We intend to recruit and replace some of those positions over this coming summer. Even through these difficult times, every effort will be made to continue to maintain service for Plainfield Township residents, businesses and visitors.