Update on Wednesday, Jan 15 at 6:15 a.m.: At Tuesday night's trustee meeting, Plymouth firefighters union president Chris Smith, with a firefighter at his side laid out the department's low staffing issue, saying when two calls come in, they may not have enough firefighters to answer it. Those concerns were met to pushback from board trustees.
"The way you’re going about this is wrong," said Treasurer Bob Doroshewitz. "All you’re doing is driving a wedge between the firefighters union and the board. Excuse me I didn’t hear them say that today."
Conversations between Plymouth township trustees got heated Tuesday night after Smith pleaded for help.
"The issue is the low staffing," Chris said. "Every member of the fire department is a paramedic. . So we do a dual role. We respond to every single medical that comes out. we respond to every single fire that comes out...If the police don’t respond to it, the fire department does.
"Staffing a truck is the most important thing we can do for the community," Chris said. "If we have an ambulance in the station, it should be staffed. If we have a fire engine in the station it should be staffed."
Smith's concerns on low staffing were met with questions and even pushback from trustees.
"The issue which was HVA, I know that staffing now is part of - you’ve said that you’ve changed the paradigm and now staffing of firefighters if the primary quest," said supervisor Chuck Curmi. "I can show you the screen shots off of social media where your own firefighter called this board a bunch of clowns...you want to work with this board, that is not the way to do it."
The meeting ended without a resolution and Plymouth Township fire department's staffing was put on the back burner.
Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m.: The union that represents firefighters in Plymouth Township is sounding a different kind of alarm over staffing.
They are among the departments across the state who say they need more staff and it's getting critical. Chris Smith, President of Plymouth Township Professional Firefighters Union says it's something they've been advocating to increase for years.
“I know that they’re hearing it, we just aren't seeing any action," said Smith.
He says the November 13 heroic rescue of a couple who's home caught on fire by Plymouth Township officers was an eye opener.
"That day we happened to have seven firefighters on duty and the station that was in the immediate response district to that fire was in fact out on a medical call so the engine was sitting unstaffed in the fire department,” said Smith.
Currently, there are 24 firefighter paramedics between the three stations. Smith says they often only have two firefighter paramedics assigned to each and the call volume has strained their current staffing levels.
Police arrived before the township's other two fire stations further out and armed with hand held fire extinguishers broke down the door. The station assigned to respond to the call was about a half mile away.
"That incident really kind of, forgive the pun, lit a fire under us to really start taking action and letting the community know that this really isn't a safe model," said Smith.
The township has partnered with private company Huron Valley Ambulance Emergency Health Partner (HVA). Smith says the union is not out to end that partnership and just wants their critical staffing addressed.
Supervisor Chuck Curmi says their partnership with HVA has been in place for the past 31 years to respond to medical calls in the area.
The contract was renewed in a 4-3 vote for another 18 months last July.
Curmi says local officials they have been listening to the union's concerns and believes the past election may have something to do with why the conversation is coming up again.
Curmi says he is also conducting a study investigating calls and response times.
“They have our attention and we are looking at facts and be data driven. we understand the issues we’re getting more information like everything else there are two sides and we want to improve service or at least keep it at a level that is acceptable to our residents,” said Curmi.
What would need to happen is to garner more public support to fund more staffing.
At least one of the seven trustees has been actively advocating on their behalf and trying to educate the public.
“It is a kind of linear process. and so I think we’re kind of at the point where we’re making enough noise where people are starting to pay attention we’ve had tremendous support of course for our firefighters," said Jen Buckley.
Buckley says after spending more time with members of the fire/paramedic team, she feels it's important to listen and be more proactive so that they can respond to the increase in calls they've been seeing year over year.
They have asked supporters to attend the trustee meeting January 14 at 6:30 p.m. where the conversation is expected to come up.
