Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

You should call 9-1-1 during any emergency. If you believe your issue does not qualify as an emergency but you still need First Responders dispatched to your location, contact Saginaw County Central Dispatch at 989-797-4580.

Richland Township Fire Department receives its funding through a special asessment millage on Richland Township taxes and contracted fees for Fremont Township. Richland Township Fire Department does not bill residents for responses directly.

Fire Departments are required to generate an incident report of all activations/responses that are then filed with the Federal and State authorities for tracking and reporting purposes. In order to complete our report, we require basic information from the owner/resident.

Richland Township Fire Department is activated for Priority medical calls only. The local ambulance service, Mobile Medical Response (MMR) provides medical response for non-priority calls. For clarity, the term “Priority” does not mean that your emergency is not just that, an emergency. Instead, it is meant to categorize response types so that entities are able to determine what level of response they are able to provide with the resources at their disposal. The three categories are All, Priority or None.

In order to effectively utilize the resources we have, the Township has chosen to respond to Priority calls (as defined above) versus All calls. If we were to switch to All calls, that would add additional activations and costs to the Department which would require additional resources and funding thru increased taxes.

If you would like more information regarding what is and/or is not categorized as a Priority medical emergency, please review the current protocol from Saginaw Tuscola Medical Control Authority.

Currently, we have two scheduled in-house department trainings per month with several months having additional specialized trainings. We typically conduct in-house training on the second Monday and fourth Wednesday of the month; however, the days or number of scheduled trainings may change due to holidays. The Department also utilizes an industry leading vendor that provides nationally accredited training online for lecture-based training and refresher. Richland Township Fire Department members are required to obtain various amounts of both online and in-house hands-on training each year.

Unfortunately, the requirements to conduct this type of training have become increasingly stringent for valid safety concerns. This type of training requires the sourcing of individuals with extremely specialized certifications to conduct “live” burns. It also requires that the owner produce certification that the structure is free of asbestos, and/or, if it there are products/components of the home where asbestos was found, it requires that the owner utilize and provide documentation of certified safe removal of those contents. These items are all extremely costly, time-consuming and create logistical issues for both the owner and the Department. For these reasons, we do not conduct “live” burn training in old structures.

Yes. In order to meet the Federal and State requirements for “live” burn training, we partner with other entities that have engineered “live” burn facilities and instructors certified to provide this level of training every year. Additionally, Richland Township Fire Department members are assigned monthly topics, both online and in-house hands-on training, that cover various aspects of the tasks performed while fighting a fire.

Richland Township Fire Department is always accepting applications to be a firefighter. You can find the application on our Employment page along with a description of the hiring process and job description. The requirements that must be met to apply can be found on the Employment page.