The Glen Lake Fire Department (GLFD) presented an analysis of its annual report at the Empire Township annual meeting March 23.
GLFD saw 545 calls throughout 2023 with 300 of those calls being medical related for both Empire (238 calls) and Glen Arbor townships (281 calls).
“This was a pretty normal year,” GLFD chief Bryan Ferguson said. “Fairly close between the two townships, we put a lot of emphasis on training for all of our employees.”
Ferguson added that GLFD blocked off a total of 4,085 hours of training this year, which breaks down to about two hours per day per employee. GLFD has 16 full-time employees including Ferguson. In November, GLFD promoted Chad Dykgraaf from shift lieutenant to captain to help support the administrative workload. GLFD has five people on duty at a minimum, with two stationed in Empire and three in Glen Arbor 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The fire department received two grants this year, totaling $21,000 for some breathing apparatus and wild-land firefi ghting gear.
Leelanau County fire department entities combined and submitted a grant for nearly a million dollars for new air packs. Roughly $265,000 will go to GLFD.
A new fire engine for the Empire Station is complete and an open house is being planned for the end of April, according to Ferguson.
GLFD operates in agreement between Glen Arbor and Empire Township which pays a monthly payment for staffing and operations costs.
Empire Township pays GLFD $97,000 a month for the service.
