Hazel Park Fire Department receives $30K donation for kitchen upgrade

Kitchen Remodeling Nov 26

HAZEL PARK — Firefighters work some odd hours.

The average firefighter works a 24-hour shift, from 8 a.m. one day, to 8 a.m. the next. They can also work 48-hour shifts, if someone is sick or there is overtime.

That means they spend a lot of time at the fire station. And that’s why the firefighters at the Hazel Park Fire Department, 22830 Russell Ave., are so thankful for the recent $30,000 donation for a new kitchen from Kurtis Kitchen & Bath in Royal Oak.

“This is our home for a third of our life, basically. We’re always waiting for our call, and it’s a 24-hour business,” said Hazel Park Fire Chief Richard Story. “This is huge. You don’t realize how huge. Our building was built back in 1964, and the kitchen is original to that, so it’s 50 years old now. We serve three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for our employees. It’s a beyond well-used kitchen. And due to the city’s financial constraints, and government state-shared revenues not being there for us, obviously we’ve never been able to budget a new kitchen.”

The donation for the new kitchen, which at press time had not yet been installed, came about when Sean Altman, a firefighter/paramedic, contacted associates from Kurtis Kitchen & Bath that he knew back from his days as an electrician.

There are currently five locations for the family-owned, 46-year-old business, headquartered in Livonia. Aaron Kuretzky is the third-generation owner. Justin O’Brien is the store manager of the Royal Oak location. Together, they worked with Altman to see what the Fire Department needed.

Originally, Altman was just looking to use any of the leftover display units they had. But Kuretzky quickly realized that wouldn’t work for them. An entirely new kitchen, from top to bottom, was what the firefighters needed. So, Kuretzky agreed to go all-out for the firefighters — new cabinets, countertops, sinks and more.

At press time, the stock was all ready to go. It was just a matter of shipping it from Kurtis Kitchen & Bath’s 90,000-square-foot warehouse, manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters in Livonia.

“Their kitchen is a big space, providing meals for a group much larger than the typical family,” Kuretzky said. “These guys are good guys. They’re just good guys who do a good cause. They shouldn’t have to neglect simple things that people really use.”

Kurtis Kitchen & Bath is also helping the Community Opportunity Center in Livonia, a community house where people with developmental disabilities live. They’re creating storage solutions for their files and medicine. And back in September, they went to Sunshine’s Always Brighter With A Second Chance Home — a women’s shelter — and overhauled the kitchen, the bathrooms and more.

“We’re not an organization that puts together a budget per year with exactly what we’re going to do,” Kuretzky said. “It’s just us trying to help, when and where we can.”

The fire chief in Hazel Park said the new kitchen will really improve quality of life for his employees, who must be ready to respond to structure fires or medical emergencies at a moment’s notice. The Hazel Park Fire Department has an average response time of just three minutes.

“It’s just huge of Kurtis (Kitchen and Bath) being willing to do this and provide this,” Story said. “Hopefully, we can have it all done around Christmas.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at akozlowski@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1104.

Source: C&G News. 11/26/2014, Hazel Park Fire Department receives $30K donation for kitchen upgrade