BRANDON TOWNSHIP – The fire department’s new ambulance is in, and plans for their new fire station are close to being off the drawing board and into the hands of builders.
The 2002 Ford 450 chassis was augmented by Wheeled Coach of Wichita, Kan. With equipment, the total cost of the new rig came to about $85,000, according to Fire Chief Bob McArthur, right around the amount reserved in the budget for that purpose.
Plans are to keep ambulances in service for about five years, then sell them to buy another new unit.
“We take very good care of them,” McArthur said, and can get a good price. He thinks having relatively new units is a better service for local residents and less worry for the department.
“We started out with old ones [when the department started emergency medical service], but I want to sleep at night,” he said.
The new rig comes from existing funds, including user fees, and does not require an increase in the local property tax.
The new ambulance looks – and will be equipped – the same as the department’s two current ambulances. That is by design, McArthur said, so emergency medical service personnel will have uniform response procedures.
The department began offering advanced life support services several months ago, and McArthur said it is “absolutely spectacular” so far.
“Coverage is our only issue,” he said, admitting that it is taking time to train more firefighters as full paramedics. That will be “a constant effort” as the department plans for a third fire station at Oakwood and Hurd roads on the township’s east side.
The township board has hired CDPA Engineering for architectural drawings for the estimated 7,000-square-foot building.
The township has $1 million budgeted for the new hall, and the architectural firm will get 7 percent of the building’s final cost as their commission.
McArthur said township officials conducted “a fairly extensive search.” CDPA has designed about 50 fire halls, including new ones for Oakland and Oxford townships.
Construction is expected to begin this spring, McArthur said, with hopes of occupying it in the spring of 2004.
The point of the new building and the new ALS program is to provide faster, better service, and that led to a recent decision concerning how the fire department is dispatched.
The Brandon Fire Department formerly contracted with the American Medical Response ambulance service for their dispatching, but AMR gets their information from 9-1-1 operators at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
Brandon will now pay for direct service from the Oakland County 9-1-1 center in Pontiac.
The cost will be about $1,000 more annually, but McArthur said eliminating the extra step in communications could save up to two minutes in firefighters receiving the call.
While McArthur said he has no complaint about AMR’s service, the difference in time can make the difference in some medical emergencies.
“We’ve found nothing but positive with the county,” he said.