July 11, 2001
Elmwood Twp. breaks ground on fire station
Building replaces 1947 facility
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Instant quiz: what is the most populous township in Leelanau County?
If you answered Elmwood Township, you are correct. With 4,700 people, Elmwood Township, located just north of Traverse City, has been a magnet for both residential and commercial growth for decades. It also boasts the highest property value base in the county.
To support the burgeoning population in fire prevention, education, fighting and investigation, fire department officials have sought a newer, larger fire station to replace the one built in 1947. In fact, it has been a township goal 10 years in the making.
A millage passed last November by township voters has made a new station a reality.
Tuesday morning, work began on the station property next to the Elmwood Township Hall on Lincoln Road. The new station is schedule for completion by the end of the year.
To get the work started, fire department and township officials gathered at the new building's site Monday evening for a groundbreaking ceremony.
"With the greater population in the township, there is a greater need for space in the station," said Captain Marc Williams of the Elmwood Township Fire Department. "A lot of technology has changed in the past 20 years and the equipment is getting bigger and we're having to carry more of it."
Williams noted that the township's fire department currently makes 250 runs a year and has 22 paid on-call members plus two investigators. The township also has the only trained accelerant-sniffing dog in northern Michigan.
The new 12,000 square foot station will be twice as large as the former station on Cherry Bend Road and include offices, a kitchen and a dayroom for crew. It will have room for the station's two older fire trucks and the ambulance unit.
In addition, a newer fire truck purchased last year can finally come home. This truck has been housed with the Cedar Fire Department because there is no room in the old station for it.
The larger station will also give the department room for a mule - a small fire-fighting unit made for trail use - they plan to purchase.
"The mule is a quicker, smaller unit that has more agility for going on trails, such as the Leelanau Trail," said Williams, a firefighter for 20 years who has been with the department since 1991.
As Monday night's ceremony began a new era in fire fighting in Elmwood Township, Deputy Chief Gary Rushton reflected on the department's beginning. His father was fire chief of the Elmwood Township Fire Department for 27 years, starting when the department began on April 16, 1947. He said that for years the station's second siren was hooked to his father's shop.
Rushton recalled that the township decided to create a fire department after a local fire required assistance from the Traverse City Fire Department.
"Traverse City wanted to charge for hook and ladder use and the township got mad and decided to start their own department," Rushton said. "The ladies got together into an auxiliary and raised money for the first station, which was just two stalls and a bathroom."