Changes discussed to township and city fire service

Photo: © Don Howard/Associated Newspapers of Michigan

Feb. 6, 2016  PLYMOUTH EAGLE.

Plymouth Michigan News

“The additional run-volume will not put a strain on our response times…this is a first step.”

Don Howard

Staff Writer

Changes to the way Northville Fire Department handles emergent ambulance service are being considered and have been confirmed by Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth.

The topic was discussed at the Fire Advisory Board Meeting in Plymouth Monday. Plymouth and Northville have a joint fire services agreement that shares the City of Northville 50-man, on-call firefighter crew, even though the two communities are not contiguous.

Neither Northville Township nor Plymouth Township participates in the Fire Advisory Board meetings.

Werth said that with major road construction work scheduled this year for I-275 and Six Mile Road-the location of the only fire station in Northville Township, officials have offered options to Northville Mayor Ken Roth to alleviate their concerns about long response times, especially during rush hour traffic periods.

Werth said they have made various proposals to Northville “for almost 2 years,” and to date have not had any confirmation as to acceptability until now when city officials formally questioned their response times.

One proposal was to locate a Northville Township Advance Life Support (ALS) ambulance unit at the Main and Wing fire station in the city for priority-one calls. The move would allow the city fire department to eliminate calling Community EMS, a private ambulance company located at 11 Mile and Novi Road, for those priority calls. If the proposal is adopted, Northville Township would bill patients directly as opposed to Community EMS. Werth said the cost to provide the service to the city would be negated by the revenue from the patients.

Community EMS bills residents and patients $750 for priority-one ALS runs, plus $12.50 per mile and a $40 oxygen charge, if required.

Colleen Pobur, chair of the Fire Advisory Board, questioned Northville Fire Chief Steve Ott about a possible partnership at the board meeting. Roth responded saying only, “We’ve been approached, an offer was made and we’re looking at it.”

“The additional run-volume (for Northville city) will not put a strain on our response times…this is a first step.” Werth said.

Werth said the Northville Township Fire Department response times are less than 8.0 minutes 87 percent of the time.

Werth said Northville Township was also in talks with Plymouth Township officials to rent space and park an ambulance and fire engine at the long-shuttered Station 2 for six months during the construction time. The station located on Wilcox Road was built to serve the 800 homes in the Lake Pointe subdivision because of the numerous railroad crossings.

Plymouth Voice.