http://www.oceanacountypress.com/2017/04/19/firefighters-to-quit-if-budget-doesnt-pass/


WALKERVILLE — After months of controversy surrounding the fire department’s budget, Walkerville firefighters and medical responders
have announced that they will “walk off the job” next week if officials
do not adopt a budget so the department can continue operations.

“The firefighters and medical responders met tonight (Monday, April 17) and have notified us that they are all walking off the job on the
27th if we have no money to operate on,” states a post on the
Walkerville Area Fire and Rescue Facebook page.
The fire department is operated by the fire authority, which includes four
different municipalities — Leavitt, Colfax and Elbridge townships and
the Village of Walkerville. Members of the fire authority board include
two members of each incorporating unit.

...

Fire department Administrator Jerry Frick, who had been the fire chief for 35 years and has been on the department for over 50 years, has been
the target of accusations by officials regarding the budget. However,
the firefighters stand behind Frick and believe he is being unfairly
targeted.

...

In the meantime, as the fire department has no funds, Frick has paid some of the department’s bills out of his own pocket in order to keep it
in operation, Amador and Assistant Fire Chief Al Purdy told OCP last
week. Jerry and his wife Verla paid the $400 electric bill, which was
past due, they said. The electricity was within days of being shut off,
they said. The couple also paid the department’s minimum payment on its
credit card, they said.

The department’s fuel tank is empty, Amador said, so the fire trucks cannot be refueled until funds are
available. Also, the volunteer firefighters, who get paid per run as a
form of reimbursement for their time and expenses, were supposed to be
paid April 15, and thus far no one has received a check.

A fire board meeting is set for Saturday, April 22, at 9 a.m. at the
Elbridge Township Hall. It is one of several meetings that have taken
place over the last few months regarding the fire department’s budget. A
few of the meetings were attended by uniformed officers of the Oceana
County Sheriff’s Office due to the potential of violence erupting

Eta: I'm a fucking dick, they are volunteers.

Turn it into a subscription-based service.

Yeah yeah, I know.  "Muh roads."

First thing onsite the victim will have to be giving the FD CPR when they have heart attacks.  Guess they don't have physical fitness requirements...

Edit: I'm illiterate.

Our local fire department is the biggest waste of fucking money.  

Keep the EMTs and just make the fire department private.  

They make more than the police for sitting on their ass, cooking out, sleeping or washing a truck.

We have a local EMT volunteer station that does not answer any 911 calls but still does fund raising which goes into their personal pockets.

The great thing about fire departments is they don't generally show up unless called and you can almost always decline their services.  If you ever find yourself needing emergency services just hold out until the responders are sexy enough for to your tastes.

Meh I've been in fire 8 years. I've Already seen 1 firefighter have a massive MI during a fire, doing a primary search. His crew had to pull his 300lb ass out while RIC went in to help.

It's not about sexy, it's about being prepared to do your job. But you know that, so why the pithy response?

I do not have an opinion on the specific fire department listed in the news clipping, more so on the comments I am reading here.

Locally, our fire department is volunteer. This means that there are no fulltime staff, but the firefighters are paid per responding call and they also have a retirement with 20+ years of service. They do some fundraising here. Nobody personally pockets funds unless they want to go to jail. These funds are yearly audited to make sure that does not happen.

The local FD has a physical test that they require prior to getting "hired." I do not think they have to continue testing after that.

I have no problem whatsoever with any of the above. Firefighters deserve to get "something" if they are waking up to a pager and responding on personal time. They also deserve some sort of retirement for the time in service. I can also understand how it might be difficult to keep people in shape on a volunteer department since they have a life outside of it. On a fulltime paid department, staying up on PT is acceptable.

Again, my opinion is based on my local area, not specifically this hit piece. I support my local FD.

I assume that means these are fulltime paid firefighters. I will ask this then, what are they supposed to do when they are not fighting an actual fire, aside from maintaining the equipment? Should they be out starting fires to put out instead of washing trucks until the next actual call?

It's easy to look down your nose when you are paid to do the job. When you pay volunteer work volunteer wages you get volunteer quality help.

In these cases, they get what they don't pay for.

Walkerville, Michigan has a population of 247.
Why do they need anything other than a volunteer fire department?

I'm betting the administrative side of city hall has swollen massively while they "struggle" to fund the fire department (really re-direct funds away from).

Nowhere in the article does it say that this is a fulltime department. My guess is this is a volly department and they also respond to multiple townships (farms) outside of the population 247 city.

Fair enough on that point. I just re-read the entire thing and see I missed where it said they were a volunteer dept. I feel like a complete fucking ass now.

It says they have coverage for 4 different townships and Walkerville itself.

I think they want money for equipment and stuff like that. I used to work out there, the place is desolate. I dont think any of the departments in the area are not volunteer.

It sounds like they need things like fuel, electric bill, pay for those responded to calls, ect. I would imagine the citizens are going to put the council persons to the pike if they don't fix this.