Mortgage, Economic Woes Threaten Ranks Of Volunteer Firefighters

In Genesee County, Michigan, The Flint Journal reports:

• Accepting the resignation of a firefighter at a recent Mt. Morris Township Board meeting was just a formality. He'd already relocated out of state days earlier. But District Fire Chief Rick Johnson saw it as an ominous sign that the mortgage lending crisis was knocking on the door of yet another house - this time the fire house. "He left out of our district because he was losing his house, and I'm afraid this is the first of many," Johnson told township trustees. [...] The township lost another firefighter because his car was repossessed.

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• Volunteer firefighters are being affected by the same things hitting everyone else: skyrocketing gas prices, layoffs and foreclosures. [...] "Having an on-call force depends on people who live in the community. When they start losing houses and vehicles, it makes it hard."

For more, see Genesee County fire departments face another tough battle: losing firefighters because of economic woes. foreclosure arson whale