Trustees discuss fire service for Bingham Farms

By Dana Casadei

Discussions officially began on Monday, March 9, about a potential partnership between the Bloomfield Township Fire Department and the Village of Bingham Farms, which approached the township about providing fire services.

“I think it’s a testament to what we have here that Bingham Farms came to us to discuss this,” said trustee Chris Kolinski at the board meeting. “There are other communities they could have gone to but they came here to ask for services. I think this is a win-win, a great option, and I’m very excited about it.”

Approval of the interlocal agreement would allow Bloomfield Township to provide fire protection, advanced life support and fire inspection services to the village, where over the last five years they have averaged between 300 and 320 incidents per year. In 2025, there were 314 incidents reported, with 21 being roadway accidents, 136 residential incidents and 157 commercial. Those numbers were the highest over the last five years.

While incidents in Bingham Farms have increased recently, incidents in Bloomfield Township have plateaued over the last nine years, according to fire department chief John Leroy. Over the last few years there have been a few reductions attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and a lack of inclement weather incidents and LeRoy said he believes these numbers will continue to stay where they are for some time. 

“I feel that we could do this – if the board chooses – with no additional costs to the township, and it wouldn’t overburden our current responses,” said LeRoy.

Bingham Farms’ current fire services are provided by Franklin in a joint venture between the two communities. 

Bloomfield Township Fire Department currently has 64 fire personnel. The fully staffed department is broken down into 20 firefighter/paramedics assigned to each of the three shifts, three fire prevention personnel and an EMS coordinator. 

Personnel are split among four different stations within Bloomfield Township. Stations 2, 3, and 4 are equipped with an advanced life support ambulance and an advanced life support fire engine, each with two firefighter/paramedics. Station 1, Central Fire, has an advanced life support ladder truck daily with an advanced life support ambulance and other support apparatus when staffing is not affected by paid time off, thje chief said.

Of those four fire stations the one that would be most impacted by this partnership would be Station 3, which would assume the roughly 300 additional incidents in the village while shifting approximately the same number of responses that occur in Bloomfield Township to Station 1 and Station 4 without impacting the residents of Bloomfield Township. 

The current station response areas would be redefined for all three stations under this proposed agreement. 

“Agreements like this are not new to the fire service,” LeRoy said. “Many of our neighbors have very similar agreements.”

Examples include Southfield Fire Department and Lathrup Village; Waterford Fire Department and the city of Pontiac and Lake Angelus; West Bloomfield Fire Department and Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake and Sylvan; and Independence Township Fire Department, provide fire services to the Village of Clarkston.

This type of partnership would not only benefit the residents of Bingham Farms, but and also Bloomfield Township, LeRoy said. 

Based on the projections that LeRoy put together with the Bloomfield Township finance department, a partnership like this has the potential to bring in a revenue of $10,884,576 over the next 10 years to the township.

That revenue would come from a 10-year contract with an annual five percent escalator and a calculated 3.6225 millage rate, as well as EMS transport revenue. 

While many trustees seemed on board with moving this forward a few had slight trepidation, with concerns about operational costs for the fire department and overstressing the township’s fire department. 

“You’re the pride of the township,” said clerk Martin Brook. “I would be happy to support this but I want the fire department to provide services to Bloomfield Township first and foremost, and if this can fit in with no impact to Bloomfield Township then I will fully support this.”

According to LeRoy, even with the addition of 300 potential incidents, the Bloomfield Township Fire Department would still have fewer incidents than in previous statistical high years.

Since this was only a discussion about the proposed partnership there will be multiple next steps that need to be taken before anything is finalized, starting with hearing from township residents. No public hearing date was set. 

“We’ll figure out a path forward,” said township supervisor Mike McCready.