Manistee Township Fire and EMS

MANISTEE TWP. — The Manistee Township Fire Department is seeking funding for a new medical response vehicle to replace the current 1997 Chevrolet Suburban.

But the cost of a replacement vehicle could total up to $250,000. 

“We did get a couple of quotes for new units, custom-built units, and they were between $175,000 and $250,000,” Manistee Township Supervisor Dennis Bjorkquist said at the Aug. 23 Manistee Township Board meeting. 

Bjorkquist clarified that the quote was only for the vehicle, and not the equipment required to run it as an EMS vehicle. 

Joe Cerka, Manistee Township Fire Department chief, said that the department has been sinking too much money into the 25-year-old vehicle. 

Cerka said after talking to a list of places that sell trucks, the department decided to buy the parts to build a new medical response truck and then send those parts to be assembled.

He said that will bring down the overall cost of the vehicle. 

The Manistee Township Board members unanimously approved the resolution supporting a $50,000 grant application toward a vehicle and equipment in the cycle II of the Manistee County Local Revenue Sharing Board grant program. 

"The township of Manistee recognizes the need to improve and maintain equipment for use by the Manistee Township Fire Department as the primary provider of medical first responder and fire suppression services in the township. ..." the resolution reads in part. 

Cerka said the department hopes to get a pickup truck with a cab on it with special shelving and other equipment catering to the types of rescue emergencies the firefighter-medics respond to frequently.

“It’s what they call a dry rescue that’s not a pumping vehicle but it will anticipate carrying the Jaws of Life with it,” Bjorkquist added. 

He said the plan is to use the vehicle for standard rescue situations as well as ice and swift water rescue calls to Manistee Lake or places like Manistee River. 

According to the Manistee County website section on the revenue sharing grants, the deadline for county grant applications was Sept. 2 and all other applications are due Friday.

I mainly grew up in Gladwin, but have moved around living in other states and even in Japan for a time. I attended Mid Michigan Community College and Central Michigan University where I studied journalism, cultural anthropology and Japanese language and culture. I have won a list of Michigan Press Association awards in categories like investigative enterprise reporting, as well as other journalistic awards such as the Inland Press Association Newsroom Contest award for my contextual coverage of Great Lakes drownings, and was a top-20 winner of the Hearst Radio Competition's collegiate category.  Prior to the News Advocate, I was the editor in chief and a reporter for the Gaylord Herald Times, a reporter for CMU Public Radio, a reporter for CM-Life newspaper and the Laker Current.