By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – The fire department welcomed guests into the station, located at 6730 Roosevelt Avenue, the afternoon of Sept. 20 for a family-friendly open house.
Attendees had an opportunity to see fire and emergency response vehicles, tour firefighter living quarters and workout areas, and even try their hand at aiming a fire extinguisher at a target.
Fire Chief Jeff O’Riley said they wanted an opportunity to show residents what their hard-earned money went towards, and to make them proud of the building and the department.
“We have our new bay, which is all about being able to respond and serve the community, which is what this upgrade was,” he said. “Part of that is giving the firefighters a healthier and safer place to live while they are here working for the community, but then helping us to give back to the community when they need help.”
O’Riley said they have upgraded the building’s doors, as well as the heating and cooling system, and they now have a proper training room and conference room.
“Businesses come in that need to talk about their designs of their new businesses and their fire alarms, and we have a place for them to come and talk to us,” he said.
O’Riley said the living quarters for the firefighters are gender-neutral, and all employees have a safe and comfortable place to relax, sleep, shower and change.
He said the entire building is sprinkler and smoke-detector enabled as well, which is needed to detect a fire that could start in the mechanical system of an emergency vehicle.
“It’s just a state-of-the-art facility to serve the community,” O’Riley said.
The chief said they have a new and separate decontamination room to so they can wash the medical equipment they use for emergency medical services, to clean their boots and bags, disinfect the air packs, and wash their gear in commercial washers and dry it properly so the liners aren’t compromised.
“We can clean everything in a safe area that isn’t out here in the bay,” O’Riley said.
He said their ladder truck is 105 feet tall, which would allow them to reach the sixth floor of the 10-story Maple Heights Senior Living facility on Allen Road in Allen Park.
However, Allen Park is part of the Downriver Mutual Aid Fire Services Division, which coordinates fire and rescue support among 18 communities in the southern part of Wayne County, which includes neighboring Dearborn, Melvindale and Taylor.
“The ladders aren’t always about height – it is about reach,” O’Riley said. “So, when you look at the fires that were down in Southgate at the American House, a lot of the time we have to get up high to fight the fire in the middle of the building, because we can’t go in.”
He said five ladder trucks from surrounding communities responded to that Southgate fire.
“It’s a very specialized tool, but when you need it, you need it, and that’s the whole purpose of the fire department,” O’Riley said. “We are here for people when they need us, and they might not use this every day, you might not ever use this, but if somebody does, we are expected to show up and do our job.”
The chief said senior high rises are generally very safe and meet code, but accidents do happen, just like they do in residential homes.
‘That’s why you have us,” O’Riley said.
He said the open house was having a nice turnout for a rainy day.
O’Riley said they were focusing less on fire safety lessons and more on giving tours of the facilities during this open house.
“A lot of people come in and they see the trucks but they never get to see the dorms and the kitchen and all the inner workings of the department,” he said. “It’s a very special and different kind of department, more like the military than anything else out in civilian life.”
O’Riley said retired firefighter Bud Donovan, who worked until the early 1980s and is now 101 years old, came to check out the fire station during the open house.