NOBLE TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB) – Bronson Fire Chief Scott Wilber is scheduled to present the results of a Noble Township satellite station feasibility study on Monday night.
The presentation and meeting at the Noble Township Hall at 975 West Southern Road is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.. Meeting attendees will have opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
The Bronson Fire Department is proposing the construction of a satellite fire station at Southern Road and Gilead Lake Road in Gilead Township in a plan designed to reduce the risk of property damage and potential loss of life in its 192-square-mile district.
The projected $140,000 cost of building the satellite would be shared by four townships with those benefiting the most shouldering the largest share.
Noble Township’s projected total cost is $40,000. Construction would begin this year with plans for the station to be functional by the end of the year if approved by the Bronson Area Fire Association at the annual budget meeting in June.
Bronson firefighters serve approximately one-third of Branch County with 3,258 households across six townships and the City of Bronson.
It’s felt the satellite would help reduce response times, provide access to more water and promote mutual aid agreements with other departments. In addition, six of the department’s 24 firefighters live closer to the proposed satellite than they do to the main station.
The satellite would be built on five acres leased from for $1 the Branch County Road Commission for 99 years if approved by Branch County administration.
The structure would be approximately 1200 square feet and house the department’s 20-year-old tanker, a truck that will serve as a reserve unit and is fully equipped with a pump, hoses, ladders and other essential gear.
The Bronson Fire Department said in a Facebook post that without the satellite station, an anticipated automatic mutual aid agreement with the Tri-Township Fire Department will be negated when that department builds its planned new Fawn River satellite station.
Comments