TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A house fire in Texas Township shows how rural and suburban areas often operate without the same infrastructure found in larger cities, including fire hydrants.
The fire occurred in the early morning hours on Wednesday at a home on Keith Court in Texas Township on a street without fire hydrants.
No one was hurt in the fire.
JoAnne O'Rurke, Texas Township supervisor, said many areas in the township and throughout Kalamazoo County were developed without municipal water infrastructure.
"A large part of the township, like other municipalities in Kalamazoo County, does not have fire hydrants. This is really not unusual in the county. Even in some subdivisions, you'll have half that have city water and sewer, and half that don't," O'Rurke said.
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The fire required a response from multiple area fire departments to extinguish. O'Rurke emphasized how fire departments in these areas are equipped to handle such situations.
"What that underscores is the importance of having a fire department with pumper engines," O'Rurke said.
Nine different departments responded to the call, demonstrating the collaborative approach used in Kalamazoo County.
"Nine different departments responded. So in Kalamazoo County, residents are very fortunate to have county dispatch. So when a call comes in, a call goes out to all of the nearby municipalities," O'Rurke said.
The Keith Court neighborhood, like many subdivisions in Texas Township, consists primarily of single-family homes in areas that developed as residential communities outside larger municipal centers.
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