Nicholas Alumkal
mlive.com
(TNS)
YPSILANTI, MI — The bell sounded, and the Ypsilanti Fire Department sprung into action.
Only this time, the fleet was operating out of a building that hadn’t been their home for 50 years — the Michigan Firehouse Museum. The department returned to the building they used from 1898 to 1975 for three days, from 7 a.m. Wednesday, July 23, to 7 a.m. Saturday, July 25.
The stay was split into three 24-hour shifts, each running from 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. They slept in the old cots, spent time in the kitchen and did their job: responding to emergency calls in the area.
When the alarms rang out Thursday, the firefighters experienced a unique aspect of their temporary historic quarters: sliding down the firepole. Their current station is only one story, so the firefighters had to adjust.
“I don’t think people realize that it’s like 20 feet down,” firefighter Dean Doyle said. “So it’s not like a 10 foot drop. When I was looking down, I was like,’ Oh, I still have a long way to go.’”
But it is a cool experience, too, he said. “It’s something unique about old fire stations that new fire stations don’t really have.”
Then, they squeezed their modern truck out of the old garage, built for horse-drawn carriages with large manual swing doors.
“Operating out of this historic firehouse is a different animal,” Capt. Jeff Schulz said. “At our modern station, one button opens the bay doors and we’re rolling. Here? We’re manually unlocking heavy barn-style doors, turning on exhaust fans, and carefully backing trucks into tight quarters on a busy road, without a traffic light to hold cars.
“It’s a slower process, but it’s also a window into how things used to be done and makes you appreciate the grind firefighters dealt with decades ago.”
Schulz and the department still enjoyed embracing the history of the fire department and inhabiting a building constructed in 1898.
“It’s just awesome to kind of relive history and honor the firefighters that came before us,” Schulz said. “This old station really connects us to the roots of the fire service, and there’s something humbling about working in the same space they did — knowing the sacrifices they made and how much things have evolved.”
It was the second time the fire department had returned to the old station, which had been converted into a museum that displays many of their vehicles and gear from over the years.
The department’s last operated out of the station in 2023 for Ypsilanti’s bicentennial.
Though, this time, visitors could pass through to meet the firefighters: whether they were eating lunch, responding to an emergency call, or, in the case of one visitor Thursday, bringing the firefighters donuts.
“It’s always fun to interact with the public, especially in a museum setting like this,” Doyle said.
People get a glimpse of how firefighters live and realize that “we’re just regular folks doing a really cool job,” he said.
“We’ve got many of the same amenities that they have at home: we cook, we sleep, we live. But when the tones go off, we get to do something extraordinary.”
Though their stint at the old firehouse wrapped up Saturday morning, firefighters hope they can inhabit the historical site again soon.
“The fire service being so based in history, it’s important to not forget that when we have opportunities to relive it and honor the people who came before us, it’s a cool experience that I think we should keep doing,” Doyle said.
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