Frankenmuth

Without Community support such as family members, residents, businesses, elected officials, and non-profit service groups, local volunteer fire departments would surely wither away. This would force local jurisdictions to hire paid firefighters, which would increase costs, become part of a wider area cooperative venture with other adjoining municipalities, most likely delaying responses. Or become a community without any fire services whatsoever, which may be possible - but unimaginable in modern times. The Frankenmuth Fire Department's (FFD) current public protection (insurance) rating of 4/4Y saves taxpayers thousands of dollars annually in insurance premium savings due to investments made in our local firefighting apparatus, equipment and people. This rating would certainly plunge if we didn't have our own responding fire department. The Frankenmuth Community is blessed to have 32 trained volunteer firefighters who donate their abilities, skills, talents, and time to provide fire protection. FFD is not only funded by tax dollars, but also through cooperative efforts, donations and grants. As far as membership goes, we continue to be ahead of all area departments when it comes to staffing levels. Our average years of membership is 15 and well above what would be considered the average for today's volunteer firefighter. Each year, our mem- bership demographics remain impressive. A roster of approximately 28 active members is realistic for us and ideal for our make- up. Anything more than that is a luxury that we continue to enjoy here in Frankenmuth because of the support received. One other very critical component to this equation is that of the local employer's continued willingness to allow their volunteer firefighter to leave during the work day to respond to calls. If this cooperation degrades as it has elsewhere, there would be very serious implications to our ability to effectively respond to daytime calls. Additionally, because a majority of our volunteers work during the day, responses to calls would see some degree of delay because of a decreased state of readiness. So, in addition to the Community funding operations and the Frankenmuth City Township Commission for their oversight, we wish to thank the following local employers for supporting their volunteer employees while responding to calls during the work day: Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, City of Frankenmuth, Frankenmuth Credit Union, Frankenmuth Insurance, Kremin, Inc., Maurer Builders, Mike Young Buick GMC, Star of the West Milling Company, Weiss Equipment, and Wellspring. Other outside employers like Consumers Energy, Cook Chevrolet-Buick and Nexteer Automotive are also accommodating. We also hope that you support them in your business choices. In return, FFD makes every attempt to get our working firefighters back to their jobs as quickly as possible while they are on someone else's clock - because we get it! Success of your Success of your Local Fire Department Local Fire Department 55 By Phil Kerns By Phil Kerns

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