News Photo by Julie Goldberg Alpena Fire Chief Bill Forbush demonstrates how door markers can be used by firefighters during a fire. The door markers were purchased after a donation from Werth Development.

ALPENA — The Alpena Township Fire Department and the Alpena Fire Department both received a $500 donation from Werth Development on Wednesday to purchase door markers.

The door markers will be used for making sure that when fire departments are clearing an apartment, a house or a room within a house, the firefighters will put the door markers on the door. The markers signify that room or apartment has been cleared that there are no occupants in it.

“This product that we have purchased with the funds that we received from Werth Development will help us do that job more efficiently and save our manpower, time, and hopefully lives,” Alpena Township Fire Capt. Ken Piper said.

Piper said the door markers were something not in the township’s budget, so the Werth Development donation will help the fire department with any incidents that may occur in the future.

“It’s actually drawing from an incident that we had at one of the buildings that really made us take a look at that and go, ‘wow this is something that we really need,'” Piper said. “It’s a great thing for them to step forward and say we’re willing to do that because we see the value in doing it. It also keeps the door from locking so that there is no confusion as to that particular area has been searched,” he said.

Piper said the door markers can be very helpful in the community, not only to their residents, but the community as a whole.

Stephen Werth of Werth Development said the fire that occurred on Dec. 18 was a traumatic incident and the city, the township, the Presque Isle Fire Department were all on site and saved lives and had the scene under control within an hour.

“They did a fantastic job, but there’s always ways to save time because every second counts,” Werth said. “When Ken came to us and said that this is something that can really help going through that incident, we saw how it can save those seconds so we were more than willing to help out to make it happen.”

Alpena Fire Department Chief Bill Forbush said the door markers are a great opportunity for both the city fire department and the township fire department to work together to do something that helps all of the residents.

“Thankfully with the assistance of Werth Development, we’ve got this new tool that will be used both in the city and in the township around the area to help protect the public,” Forbush said.

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.