Burton Fire/Rescue Facts
As the City (If you wish to see all the data on the City of Burton "click here") was organized officially July 1, 1972 so was the Fire Department. The City inherited two (2) Fire Stations from the Township, Station #1, located at 2031 E. Bristol Rd. and Station #2, located 1320 S. Belsay Rd. In 1978, Station #3 was opened at 4515 Davison Rd. (The building was converted from an old Gas Station) Fire Station #2 was originally built in the 1940's with an addition added in 1976. Station #1 was demolished in 1988 after a new steel building was built in 1987 at the same location. There are nine (9) pieces of apparatus housed in the three stations. Burton has mutual aid agreements with all of the fire departments in Genesee County, which allows all departments the use of personnel and specialized equipment and resources others may have.
Today's Burton Firefighter is a community service oriented citizen; highly trained with a minimum of two hundred forty (240) hours training prior to being allowed to actually enter a hostile fire environment. Yearly we require a minimum of sixty (60) hours additional training in various areas of Firefighting such as; Water and Ice Rescue, High Rise Firefighting and Rescue, Automobile Extrication, Emergency Vehicle Driving Standards, Chemistry of Fire, Application of Fire Suppression agents, proper use and care of Safety equipment and breathing with the self-contained breathing apparatus.
Due to an ever changing environment the fire service must now train personnel for Weapons of Mass Destruction, which includes (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Explosives and Nuclear), Anti-Terrorism, Building Collapse, Trench Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, High Rise Rescue, Hazardous Materials Operations, Railroad Emergencies, Clandestine Methamphetamine Drug Lab Emergencies and a myriad of other emergency situations.
Burtons Firefighters are also involved in many local community projects that will allow its citizens a more comfortable life. They spend many hours teaching our youth and seniors fire prevention. They are also involved in collecting for Muscular Dystrophy and the Salvation Army. In the Spring they have spent countless hours shopping with children in need, at the back to school shopping spree at Mervyn’s and during the holiday’s they again take children shopping at the annual Meijer “Shop With A Hero”.
This is all accomplished while working full-time, raising families, attending functions at churches and local civic organizations.