As high-rise buildings spring up on college campuses across the state, concerns about fire safety and funding for fire protection are growing just as high.
“When you have a high-rise, it can be a problem,” East Lansing firefighter Troy Brya said. “On campus, getting up close to a building can be hard. But, when the building’s on fire, you’ll do just about anything.”
To prove they will do anything, city officials from East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Mount Pleasant, Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo came together last week to support legislation that would increase state funding for their cities for safety measures within the fire departments.
A 1977 public act requires the state to provide funding for municipalities to provide fire protection to state-owned facilities, but the act has never been fully funded.
Until recently, MSU paid East Lansing $900,000 each year for fire protection, but because it isn’t required by law to donate the money, the university has been cutting $200,000 each year for the last two years from the allowance. MSU officials say they plan to cut the funding altogether.
“The problem with (the act) is that the state said they’d pay for it, but they never fund it,” Mayor Pro Tem Beth Schwarze said. “What we’re trying to do from the city’s perspective is to get to the appropriations committee so our share of fire service is covered.”
Buildings on campus require some of the most high-maintenance fire care, like 12-story Hubbard Hall, which houses more than 1,200 students.
Placed immediately next to the building, the fire department’s tallest 75-foot ladder wouldn’t reach the eighth floor of the residence hall.
“We pay all the fire fighters, we equip all of the vehicles, we provide the ambulances,” Schwarze said. “We need more, and the only place we’re going to get it is from the state.”
Although state legislators increased funding for the act by 10 percent last year, the cities were still receiving less than half of the funding required by law.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Consumer and Industry unanimously agreed to add the money to the budget last week. If the additional funding is approved by the Senate and the House, the cities will have their portion of the $2 million next fall.
State Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, who represents MSU, said the Senate is likely to approve an additional $2 million for the fund this year. The issue should move to the House for approval within a month.
“The state really should be living up to its obligation,” Whitmer said. “(The act) has been under-funded basically since its inception.
“The act was set up as the ideal, the funding is determined by the economic forecast, and the priority is in appropriations committee. This was something that I was going to make a priority of mine.”
Councilmember Bill Sharp said he’s glad the issue of funding fire protection is being addressed by all of the university towns, and hopes it will be fully funded someday.
“We don’t have a check in the bank yet, but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel,” Sharp said. “We finally got a real good coalition of cities to really band together. When you band together, you have a much stronger voice. We’ve finally got some ears that are listening.”
