If the fleet is decrepit or outdated, rating points are taken from the fire department. That impacts how much homeowners pay in house insurance. Aseltine also said as the community grows, the need for additional trucks and access grows. From Feb. 15-22, Aseltine said firefighters were dispatched on nine emergency calls. And as we get more runs, we will have to increase the size of the department in order to have enough people to go out on them.
Many firefighters work full-time at other jobs.
That makes it difficult to get enough firefighters to respond on weekdays, he said. Melanie Plenda is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer.