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Jerome
Township Fire Department
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Jerome
Township Fire Department
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The 1970's
It was time for the fire department to stand on its own. Voters approved a 2.0 mill levy for 4 years for a fire station and equipment. Property was purchased and a new station was erected at 725 Irish St. (See home page for picture of station 1.) Two new trucks were purchased, one with some revenue sharing funds.
"Photo by Midland Daily News"
In addition to the new fire station and equipment, training was being formalized and encouraged by the Michigan State Firefighters Training Council. Firefighters were being trained to new levels including Haz-Mat, First-Aid, CPR, Officers Training and Firefighter Levels A,B,C,& D. If you passed all those courses and the State of Michigan written and practical exam, you would become a state certified firefighter recognized anywhere in Michigan, and be able to meet any paid fire departments minimum hiring standards.
"Photo by Midland Daily News"
Jerome Township Firefighters in 1976
"Photo by Midland Daily News"
Its no secret that Allen Cole and the "fighting Coles" gave freely of their time. When the Calls for assistance came into Cole's garage the Cole's dropped their duties and Mrs. Cole (Lydia) grabbed the phone and started to call in the volunteer fireman one call at a time. It is been told that some of the Cole boys may have drove a fire truck prior to being old enough to have a drivers license.
Another new station (Station 2) will serve the residents on the east side of Sanford Lake and give them the same insurance (ISO) rating on their property insurance as residents on the west side. ( See home page for picture of Station 2.) This in conjunction with a generous county-wide grant to local fire departments also brought the department two more new trucks.
Jerome Townships 1st heavy rescue old 95, a
1977 Springfield on a Chevy 1 ton Chassis.
Jerome's 2nd tanker old 91, an American
Apparatus on a 1977 GMC 9500 Chassis.
