Wayne Township does not have a fire tax and therefore your fire company operates on donations, fundraisers and grant awards. The average cost of firefighting equipment increases every year but our budget does not.

If we outfit 1 volunteer firefighter with 1 set of structural firefighting gear and 1 set of wildland firefighting gear, the cost would conservatively be approximately $7,500.

If that volunteer averaged only 25 hours per month, they would become cost neutral to the community in roughly 9 months.

If that volunteer is retained for 10 years, averaging the same 25 hours per month, the total in-kind value to the community would be approximately $93,000. This return on investment of your donation saves your community many hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

One paid career firefighter covering an 8 hour shift per day would cost approximately $117,000 to our community. This includes an hourly wage and fringe benefits.

We operate the entire department at or below that cost for an entire year.