By Staff
To the editor:
During a recent critical fire in downtown Niles the community had the opportunity to see volunteering at its best! Niles has a history of rich examples of volunteers who not only come forward to help in times of every day need, but have always been at the front lines during our city's most difficult times. This city has always been filled with those who are ready and able to assist whenever called upon.
The Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service (SMCAS) began as a group of volunteers who filled a need in our community after funeral homes stopped providing such services when new emergency management system laws went into effect in the 1970s. These unpaid workers began with a donated ambulance even though they had no where to park it. For many nights in that first year married couples took turns parking the ambulance in their driveway and responding to calls 24 hours a day from their homes. As the years went by, a building was constructed utilizing a grant from the Kresge Foundation. At one time there were more than 100 volunteers before the service was switched in 1985 to a fully paid paramedic service.
From this humble beginning, SMCAS today is going strong while only receiving a small amount of money from each parcel of property in its service area … an amount that is less than the cost of dinner for two at a restaurant. This minimal amount covers emergency response service for thousands of homes 365 days a year.
Firefighters are another group of individuals who began as totally non-paid volunteers serving for the good of the community. These days' new on-call or reserve firefighters must complete more than 265 hours of training including hands-on applications before they actually perform as firefighters. On call firefighters are professionals who receive the same training as full-time firefighters and they must complete more than half of their training prior to being allowed to help out at fire scenes by performing hose roll up, fire clean up procedures and other miscellaneous duties.
The Majerek Hallmark fire was a great loss for not only the Majerek Family, but the entire community. But this tragedy emphasized for our community how well our many emergency service organizations work together and how these dedicated men and women can make a real difference in very bad situations.
The fire went on for over six hours on a very hot and humid day; which happened to also be the day of Firefighter Vince Dixon's funeral after he died in an auto accident earlier in the week. The good folks from the Buchanan City Fire Department and others helped to provide fire protection during the funeral and were the first to respond to the critical fire. They did an excellent job. As the fire progressed, more than 20 fire departments and 100 firefighters came to help battle the blaze.
Volunteers from the Salvation Army and many area merchants began to provide food and cool drinks for the many hot and weary firefighters. SMCAS brought their disaster relief trailer to the scene to treat those affected by heat exhaustion. There were no serious injuries that day and the firefighters were fed, cooled and treated as needed.
We are proud to be living in Niles and we hope this community continues to remain a city of those who care about each other so that our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren can enjoy the kind of quality of life protection and service provided by our volunteers. Many thanks to all in the area who helped by volunteering their time and donating goods and services to assist those fighting the blaze.
God Bless All
Proud Citizens of Niles