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Rouge fire crew battles to keep 80-year tradition

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New era at Ford complex leaves firehouse behind
By Mark Truby / The Detroit News
The Detroit News files

DEARBORN -- Ford Motor Co. has decided to close the 80-year-old fire department at its historic Rouge complex in Dearborn -- sparking a vehement debate between the automaker and firefighters working at the massive site.

Ford said it no longer makes sense to maintain a stand-alone fire department at the Rouge, built in 1918. The company plans to shutter the department by year's end and replace it with trained emergency response teams, as it has done at its other factories.

Some see the fire department as a relic of a bygone era when the Rouge complex was often compared to a stand-alone city, at one time employing 100,000 people and churning out thousands of Model A cars a year.

But the dozen firefighters who staff the small firehouse 24 hours a day, seven days a week, say they still provide a vital lifesaving service and that closing the department will compromise safety. The firefighters contend they have specific skills and knowledge needed for the complex.

"We are going to fight this," said Butch Polanski, a captain with the Ford Rouge Fire Department. "We make sure the people here go home safe every day. That's not rhetoric. That's the way it is."

Dearborn Fire Chief Michael Birrell also questions the decision.

Polanski estimated it costs the company $2 million a year to operate the station. Firefighters said Ford is closing the department to save money. Ford said it wasn't a financial decision.

Ford informed firefighters of the decision earlier this week. The move, however, has been rumored for months and comes as Ford is slashing operating costs under a sweeping restructuring designed to restore profits.

In January, Rouge firefighters sent a letter to Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr., asking him to keep the station open.

This week, firefighters and their supporters distributed a memo to Rouge employees, warning that the company's plan to close the department will jeopardize lives. The memo questioned Ford's commitment to safety and said outside fire departments and ambulance services would not be able to respond to emergencies as quickly and effectively.

In the 1920s, when the Rouge complex had more than 100,000 people and fires broke out almost daily, the Ford Rouge Fire Department boasted 123 firefighters and a small fleet of fire engines and ambulances.

Now, 12 work out of a cramped firehouse tucked between the Dearborn stamping plant and the Dearborn assembly plant. The department operates two ambulances, a fire engine and a heavy rescue truck.

Ford spokesman Ed Lewis said the company planned to reassign the firefighters to emergency response teams that will be established at each of the five plants at the Rouge. They will no longer be considered firefighters but can remain in the firefighters union.

"Times have changed," Lewis said. "We think they can be a more valuable resource inside the plants. This is all part of the 21st century renovation we are doing at the Rouge center."

Ford is spending $2 billion over 5 years to transform the Rouge into a modern and more environmentally friendly manufacturing hub. As part of the renovation, the company is building a flexible truck assembly plant to produce the next-generation F-150 pickup.

Lewis said the Dearborn Fire Department currently handles any serious fires at the Rouge and will continue to do so. But Birrell, the Dearborn fire chief, said the Rouge fire crew will be missed.

"I don't know that I am totally comfortable with the decision to close it," Birrell said. "We are certainly going to miss the assistance and expertise they provided. They have intimate knowledge of the facility and could arrive quickly and stop minor incidents before they would get out of hand."

The 1,100-acre Rouge complex has been the site of a number of fires and explosions over the years. In February 1999, a boiler undergoing maintenance exploded, killing six workers and injuring 24. After the disaster, the Dearborn Fire Department commended the Rouge firefighters for taking the lead in fighting the fire and treating victims.

Last year, the Rouge fire crews made about 1,200 emergency runs.

"In the last year alone, we have saved three or four lives," said Capt. Doug Hayes of the Rouge department.

Ford contends that the emergency response teams it is establishing in each of the Rouge's plants will be as safe or safer than the current system. Ford also uses emergency response teams in its other plants around the world.

"This is not intended to compromise safety," Lewis said. "They have operated that department a certain way for a long time and it has worked fairly well, but we think it can work a lot better."

For historians, the demise of the fire department is another sign of the changes to America's industrial machine.

"The Rouge was a very large site with specialized needs," said Bob Casey, transportation curator of the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. "Henry Ford wanted a self-contained operation."

Fire Department history

1918: Ford begins construction of Rouge automotive manufacturing complex in Dearborn.

1920:The fire department grows to 123 men, providing fire protection and laundry services to a complex with a population of 100,000. The fire station is located next to the power house No. 3, on the west side of the Dearborn assembly plant.

1924:Rouge facilities open to public tours.

1930s:The fire station is moved to the southwest corner of the Dearborn glass plant.

1958:Financial woes force Ford to downsize the fire department's staff by half, to some 60 firefighters.

1970: The fire department receives its first ambulance.

1971: Ford expands the firefighters' role to include medical and ambulance services.

1979:Ford management moves to eliminate fire department, but eventually downsizes staff from 54 to 18.

1980: The Ford Motor Co. Rouge Firefighters Union, Local I-35, of the International Association of Fire Fighters, is chartered March 7. Firefighters were previously represented by Plant Protection Association Local 111

1982: All firefighters become emergency medical technicians.

1989:Ford sells Rouge Steel Co.

1999:An explosion at Rouge complex kills six employees and injures 24 workers. Ford announces plans to invest $2 billion over 20 years to renovate and refurbish Rouge complex.

2003: Ford plans to eliminate Rouge fire department, currently staffed with 12 firefighters.

Sources: Ford, Ford Rouge Firefighters Union, Local I-35
 

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