Department History
The City of Brighton Fire Department was
founded in 1876. Then, it was called the Village of Brighton Fire Department
and served as an organized bucket brigade.
In 1879, with a population of 800, the village
constructed a new town hall next to the Mill Pond on Main Street for a cost of
$2,300. The first floor housed the jail and fire department. The
second floor accommodated the council chambers and voting room. In 1882, the
department purchased a horse drawn hand pumper, which became Brighton’s first
fire apparatus.
After the turn of the century, the invention
of the internal combustion engine helped the fire service tremendously. In
1926, the department purchased a REO (gasoline powered fire engine) for $5,900.
It was built by Boyer Fire Apparatus Company and featured two 35 gallon water
tanks and a rotary pump with a 300 gallon per minute at 120 pounds per square
inch (psi) pressure rating. The REO was used until the early 1940’s, when it
was scraped so the metal could be used to help support the Allied Forces during
World War II.
The department took delivery of a new, state
of the art GMC fire engine in 1937. This piece of apparatus has been retired, but
still belongs to the department and serves as the official parade truck. It is
currently known as the “37” and has received numerous awards, thanks to the
efforts of several dedicated firefighters.
“37,” Official Parade
Truck
It was not until 1938 that the department
became a charter member of the City of Brighton and officially became known as
the City of Brighton Fire Department. At this time, the first department
Constitution and By-Laws were established. Shadows of these can still be found
in the ones currently in effect.
In 1941 the department was incorporated as a
non-profit organization under Public Act 327 of 1931. The financing was by
provided by the City of Brighton, in addition to Hamburg, Brighton, Genoa, and
Green Oak Townships contracting for fire protection.
During World War II, the young people of
Brighton displayed an unprecedented movement of support to help their country
win the war. Acting on insight, the department decided to form a junior fire
department to try to harness some of this energy. When the post-war boom
declined, though, so did the junior department and it disbanded in the late
1940’s.
With the dawn of a new decade, the department
revived the junior department. This department’s purpose would be to allow
people from the ages of 15-21 to assist in menial tasks related to the fire
service. They would operate under the same directives and By-Laws set forth by
the senior department. In 1951, the Brighton Junior Fire Department was
reestablished and is now the oldest junior department in the State of Michigan.
Today’s Brighton Junior Fire Department has
far-surpassed any predictions or expectations set for it in the 1950’s. The junior department has made an
excellent breeding ground for future firefighters, and fire officers. In 1996, the juniors were
restructured to only include people between the ages of 15-18. Also, that year,
the juniors were finally officially recognized as members of the Brighton Fire
Department by the City of Brighton.
In 1950, the department moved across Main
Street into a new fire station across from the Mill Pond (currently the Main
Street Emporium). The new station was financed entirely through the fire
department at no cost to the City of Brighton. Also, in early 1950’s, citizen
broad ban radios began being purchased for the apparatus.
Another
significant change during the 1960’s was the purchase of commercial band radios
for each apparatus. Livingston County then took over fire dispatching, and the
department was assigned as station 3. It was at this time a 3-digit numbering
system began throughout the county, for each apparatus, the first number identified what station the
apparatus was from.
In 1964, the Women’s Auxiliary was formed and
composed primarily of firefighter spouses. They learned how to drive and pump
the apparatus and they assisted in whatever way they could. Due to increasing
State guidelines for training and lack of membership, the Women’s Auxiliary was
slowly disbanded threw time.
Over the years the surrounding communities formed there own fire departments to
better serve there own residents and business owners. Surrounding areas included,
Hamburg Township in 1946, Green Oak township in 1966 and Brighton township in
1975.
In 1981, the Main Street station was sold and
a new fire station was started under construction on Grand River. By early 1982
it was completed, and it has been the home of the City of Brighton Fire
Department. Since a full-time Fire Chief was added to the fire department
in 1988, and this position has been a vital asset for Brighton’s growth.
The Brighton
Area Fire Department was formed on July 1, 1998 through a merger between
the City of Brighton and the Brighton Township fire departments. The
Brighton Area Fire Department covers 74 square miles in its response district,
with a population of 46,000 residents.
Today the
Brighton Area Fire Department
runs over 1200 calls per year (1389 in 2007 and 1277 in 2006). The
Brighton Area Fire Department
has 76 paid on call fire fighters and officers responding out of five stations. In addition to
the paid on call fire fighters and officers, we have a full time Fire Chief, a full time
Deputy Chief in charge of Operations, and a
fulltime
Fire Marshal division which has
an Fire Marshal and two Fire Inspectors. Currently the
Brighton Area Fire Department has 5 engines, 2
tankers, 4 rescues, 2 grass rigs, 1 ladder truck and a fire
investigation trailer.
The
Brighton Area Fire Department also
utilizes a day shift program. This program puts four firefighters on duty M-F
06:00 to 18:00. This day shift crew handles most of the runs during that time
frame as well as all of the important day to day tasks. Like most on call
departments, many of our members are unavailable during the weekdays due to
their primary jobs and careers so this day shift program is an important tool
for the
Brighton Area Fire Department
in meeting our customer's needs.
During the past 133 years, the Brighton Area Fire Department has
accomplished many attributes. It has saved countless life and property.
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