Happy Halloween, Plymouth Township: Public Safety Is No Trick

Oct. 10, 2026  PLYMOUTH VOICE.

Plymouth Michigan News

OPINION

By:  Don Howard

Fifty years ago, on a warm Halloween day, shortly after we moved into our new home in Plymouth Township, our eight-month-old son developed a high fever, convulsed and turned blue. It was an experience we would never forget.

In a panic, my wife drew bathwater and placed him in the tub while I called the Fire Department for help. I can’t remember whether 911 was available at the time or whether I had to go through the telephone operator.

“My baby is dying!” I screamed into the phone. “I don’t think he’s breathing!”

We were new to the Lake Pointe neighborhood and knew little about the township, but we did know the fire station was only a few blocks away. Our son was clearly in distress. Within minutes, emergency medical responders arrived at our door, rushed upstairs and took his motionless little body into their care.

At a nearby hospital, doctors and nurses expressed serious concern about the possibility of meningitis and strongly recommended a spinal tap. However, the hospital was not equipped to handle the pediatric emergency our son required.

He was ultimately taken to a hospital in Royal Oak, where the necessary lumbar puncture was performed. When the results came back negative, our prayers were answered.

We have always believed that the professionalism of those first responders—and the fact that help was so close by—played a critical role in getting our son the care he needed. The fire station was just blocks away in Lake Pointe.

For years, knowing that emergency help was only minutes away gave us a profound sense of security. Having trained responders close to home is more than a convenience; it can make a life-or-death difference.

Today, however, I worry that the sense of security we once took for granted is eroding—and that township leadership is doing far too little to address the problem.

This is not the public safety reality our community deserves.

Our professional firefighter-paramedics are asking for help as staffing shortages reportedly force the periodic closure of one of the township’s three fire stations. When a station closes because there are not enough personnel to staff it, residents must ask a troubling question: How will that affect emergency response when every minute counts?

Over the years, township officials have debated funding for fire department equipment, delayed decisions involving public safety expenditures and faced resistance to proposals intended to address the department’s needs. Meanwhile, call volumes and demands for service have grown. New homes, apartment developments and commercial expansion have changed the community, while three major expressways running through the township add another dimension to the demands placed on emergency personnel and equipment.

Public safety planning must keep pace with these changes. Population growth, development and increasing demands for emergency services cannot simply be ignored.

The Township Board has commissioned a professional study of fire department operations. What does that study actually say about staffing, station coverage, response times and the resources needed to protect residents? Those findings should be made public, clearly explained and followed by concrete action.

Link:

Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI)

Township Supervisor Chuck Curmi has also become part of this debate. He has characterized me as “biased” in my views on public safety and the Fire Department. I readily acknowledge that I have strong views on this issue. Having experienced firsthand how quickly a family emergency can become a matter of life and death, I believe residents have every reason to demand adequate emergency services.

But the question is not whether I am passionate about public safety. The question is whether township officials are doing enough to ensure that trained personnel and properly equipped emergency responders are available when residents need them.

It is a familiar story, but one with increasingly serious consequences. Residents deserve confidence that emergency services will be available when they call—not uncertainty about station closures, staffing shortages or how long help might take to arrive.

Over the years, I have documented and published countless stories about Plymouth Township government and its decisions. I have repeatedly raised concerns about what I see as a troubling gap between political assurances and the realities facing residents.

My wife and I are now in our eighties. Since that warm October day half a century ago, we have needed emergency assistance several times, particularly in my case. We are grateful that responders have arrived in time.

But gratitude for the help we have received should not become an excuse for complacency. Every resident deserves the same opportunity to receive timely, professional emergency care.

This Halloween, Plymouth Township’s residents should not have to wonder whether help will be there when they need it most.

Public safety is not a political game. And when lives are at stake, there is no room for political tricks.

For those who want to examine this issue and the township’s record for themselves, I have published 2,580 stories on this website. The public record is there for anyone willing to look.

Plymouth Voice.