On February 16, the Brighton City Council received a letter from the volunteer fire department. It stated the intentions of the department to discontinue service if their previous requests were not met.

The letter, which was signed by Fire Chief, Bill Farmer, was read in its entirety at the council meeting on Tuesday by City Clerk, Michelle Talley. “Since the Council clearly doesn’t respect the volunteer firefighters or the Trustees desires, it leaves the firefighters no other option than to send this position letter. A unanimous decision has been made that if the requests as outlined above are not met by March 15th, the entire group of volunteer firefighters will resign and no longer respond to any calls.”

The requests refer to a new 28E agreement, the adoption of a resolution to appoint a fire advisory board, and a memorandum of understanding, including an annual contribution of $2,000 earmarked for building maintenance and repairs. At their previous meeting on February 14, the Brighton City Council approved a motion to keep the current 28E in place. They also approved the memorandum of understanding with the language that the city would provide up to $2,000. During their Tuesday meeting, the board unanimously approved the resolution to establish the fire advisory board.

Mayor Melvin Rich expressed his hopes to resolve the conflict, but explained the course of action moving forward if the Brighton firefighters choose to resign. This involves the Washington Volunteer Fire Department responding to calls in areas currently served by the Brighton department. “We are required by law to have fire protection. Washington does not want to come over and take this because they feel we have a good fire department who can do this. But if we’re not left any options, that’s what we’ll have to do,” he said.

Under the current 28E agreement, the Brighton Volunteer Fire Department serves the cities of Brighton and Pleasant Plain, along with Brighton, Clay, Marion, Dutch Creek, Penn, and Walnut Townships.