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)

The 1980's

The 1980's brought on an enormous amount of continued training, a carry-over from the late 1970's as firefighting became a certified profession. Those training programs included; firefighter certifications, the medical first responders program, more extrication programs, and lots of new procedures. We are very proud of the commitment and dedication of our volunteers in reaching these high levels of training and certifications.

However, the trucks and Station One are getting old. Millage must be secured for replacement of critical equipment. Our main pumper will be 20 years old before funds and a replacement can be delivered. Most other trucks are out of the early 1970's. Our backup pumper is 40 years old. Our efforts for the last decade were on training, now we must shift to equipment replacement and updating in the 1990's.