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Firefighter shortage hits critical levels in Plymouth Township

Firefighter shortage hits critical levels in Plymouth Township
Firefighter shortage hits critical levels in Plymouth Township 02:22

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — With nearly 28,000 residents in Plymouth Township, the community's three firehouses are often worked to their limits.

"While they see us in the station and they see us driving around the community, when we do have an emergency, we need enough people on scene to be effective," said Chris Smith, president of the Plymouth Township Professional Firefighters Union.

Currently, there are 24 firefighter-paramedics on staff across the township's three stations. Typically, only two or three are assigned to each firehouse at a time.

Those with the firefighters union say the concern is that if multiple calls come in, they won't have the manpower to effectively help the residents.

"We're noticing as the run volume is increasing and staffing has stayed relatively stagnant that we're just not able to keep up," said Smith.

Smith says this pushes his teams to rely heavily on their mutual aid partner, Huron Valley Ambulance.

Township Supervisor Charles Curmi says that the partnership has worked well over the years and would take additional investigating before making any major changes.

"To increase staffing will require, potentially, a vote, a referendum of our citizens for them to tax themselves to meet the demands of the fire department for more staffing," said Curmi.

Trustee Jen Buckley says she is open to the funding and hopes the community is ready to listen.

"When they say they need help, that they're critically low staff, we do whatever it takes to make sure they get the funds to do that," said Buckley.

While township leaders say they are working on a study to investigate the union's concerns to figure out what the next steps should be, Smith hopes that happens sooner rather than later.

"There comes a point when we need to look at staffing and be serious about it, and we need to make sure that we are providing the service to the community that they think they're receiving," said Smith.

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