We long for the days when small-town fire departments could be staffed entirely by volunteers from the community.

But those days are gone.

If the Oxford Fire Department is going to continue to meet the needs of this growing community 24-7, then it’s going to have to hire more career firefighters.

In order to do that, it’s going to need more money and that means a tax increase like the one being proposed on the Nov. 4 ballot.

We’re not fond of tax increases, but we can get on-board with this one because it’s a need, not a want.

Between work, family and all the other obligations associated with modern life, many people are simply much too busy to be a firefighter on the side.

As a result, departments all across Michigan and the United States are suffering from a shortage of paid-on-call staff.

For departments, like Oxford, that rely heavily on paid-on-call members to supplement their smaller staff of career firefighters, this is not at all a good thing.

In 2012, the Oxford Fire Department had 114 incidents to which no paid-on-call personnel responded.

Last year, that number grew to 149.

This is totally unacceptable.

The people of Oxford need to know ? and deserve to know ? that when a life-and-death emergency arises involving themselves or loved ones, their fire department will have a sufficient number of staff members on scene to adequately handle things.

That’s why it’s so important that Oxford residents vote YES on the proposed six-year, 3.5-mill fire tax.

The request represents a 1-mill increase over what residents are currently paying. The additional mill would be used to hire two more full-time firefighters/paramedics and create a part-time position that’s filled from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

The money would also be used to refurbish two fire trucks purchased in 1996.

Instead of spending $960,000 to purchase two brand new ones, Fire Chief Pete Scholz made the prudent decision to have them refurbished for approximately $110,000 each. He believes this will give the trucks at least another 10 years of life.

That’s a huge savings to the taxpayers and we greatly appreciate it anytime a public official demonstrates frugality as opposed to the usual government penchant for extravagance.

The fire department has a proven track record of wisely spending taxpayer money and only asking for more when it’s truly needed.

We believe that deserves to be rewarded.

Vote YES on the Oxford fire millage. ? CJC