Editorial Opinion – Plymouth’s real smoke screen

It’s not only the Plymouth Township residents who are at risk with a stripped down Fire-EMS service as their Township officials work toward implementing and duplicating the very same public service model-adopted by the City of Plymouth; based on a study provided by ICMA and the nice people at Huron Valley Ambulance Co. of Ann Arbor.

People living in the City Plymouth should know they are not as safe as what the politicians would like them to believe, contrary to a recent popular local blog.

The recent public relations article, which looks very much like a press release written by Plymouth’s press corps paints a picture of Fire Department bliss since the merger with the Northville all-volunteer department. When you read it-it appears there’s no difference between Plymouth and Bedford Falls.

The problem is the story is riddled with spin and untruths.

A catastrophe in the making, not only is the new joint fire service agreement not working, it’s a financial failure. The advertised response times are based on police car show-ups and the two new Fire stations are never open as they are nothing more than garages.

Except when the volunteers are paged for an emergency and go there to open the doors, the Main street station and the Starkweather station are simply storage facilities for the one restored ambulance and the one ladder truck that used to belong to Plymouth Township.

Pick-up trucks with sirens and light bars, policemen doubling, as firefighters, and a hospital transport company from Ann Arbor really are nothing like the level of protection Plymouth residents used to have and enjoy with the Plymouth Community Fire Department.

For  many years Plymouth residents had real first class Fire and Emergency protection that has now given way to a second class system made up of the 45 volunteers and the one full time fire chief, coming from as far away as Northville City.

This is not only a sad scenario, but a travesty and smoke screen.

Hold on Plymouth Township residents…if your Board of Trustees have their way, you’re next.