Leelanau Township Fire Department, situated at the tip of the peninsula in Northport, has also dealt with its share of recruitment and retention struggles.
In 2023, the department reported having a total of 427 runs, noting that they had 298 medical-only runs, an increase from 2022. Although accidents were up with a total of 16 reported, structure fires, downed power lines, trees blocking the roadway, and water rescues were all down from last year. Currently, the department has 20 personnel, including 11 fulltime members and nine paid on-call members.
Hugh Cook, Leelanau Township fire chief, said every year, they face two big challenges when trying to hire, including the employee finding a home and the pay, which is not as competitive as other area departments. The department does, however, offer a $3,000 signing bonus. Cook, who has been with the fire department for decades, said recruitment has always been an issue though.
“They can’t find a place to live in this county without robbing the bank,” Cook said. “We’ll advertise it (help wanted), but very rarely will we have anybody apply from the county area… You have to look at the fact that I hire somebody, they make a two year commitment if they get a signing bonus, but they’re driving by probably six or eight other departments that are paying as much or more that are closer to where they live, so I’m just pretty lucky to get what I get.”
Due to the lack of local applicants, Cook said they have staff that commute from as far as downstate to work shifts in Northport. Despite employees living as far away as they do, it’s been the best way to make the situation work. Cook said they have a policy that they’re out the door in three minutes from the time the alarm goes off, and they’ve been able to stick with that routine even if they’re short staffed.
“I have 11 full-time employees right now, and only two of them live in the county. They come from Interlochen, Bay City, all over the place,” Cook said. “Our biggest thing is we’re getting people by word of mouth, especially in the downstate areas like Bay City. What we do is fairly attractive to them as far as 48 (shift schedule) out of 96 off, so they’re asking their paramedic friends to come up and join us, and that’s been pretty helpful.”
Leland Township Fire and Rescue responded to 536 calls for service in 2024, which was 73 more calls than they responded to in 2023. According to the department’s latest annual report, it was their busiest year based on the number of calls they responded to. Of those 536 calls, the department responded to 261 rescue and EMS incidents alone.
Dan Besson, Leland fire chief, said in the last few years, they’ve also had to hire people that reside 2-3 hours away. He said it’s more economical in the long run for those employees traveling long distances to pay for fuel, mileage, and wear and tear on their car than it is to relocate. The downside is not having those employees readily available for a big call if there is one that comes up.
“So they can’t come back offduty if they’re essentially 2-3 hours away,” Besson said. “You have to have two good sources of income, almost like a family, to be able to afford something up here. Depending on what your circumstances are, you may be hampered by your family not wanting to move here… We’re pretty competitive paywise, but there’s a lot more money being earned downstate with all these departments because we’re all hiring and throwing all sorts of incentives.”
Besson said one of his fulltime firefighters recently accepted a position in Farmington Hills, adding that the decision was most likely because he originally came from Detroit EMS, is familiar with the area, and because of pay opportunities. Moving downstate also allows new paramedics to gain more experience and skills while working a higher call volume, Besson said.
“You spend a lot of time in school and you want to be able to use it, and that’s one thing that the county doesn’t necessarily offer is high call volume compared to Farmington Hills, Livonia, Detroit, any number of big cities,” he said. “Every call is a learning experience, and the more calls you go on, the more you’re learning, the more you’re putting your potential skills to use.”
At Leland fire department, Besson said employees still have the ability to grow and have long distance care with patients as they’re usually with them for about 30 minutes or so during transport. Employees also have the opportunity to grow professionally in rank, however, he noted that not everyone has the desire to pursue those positions.
“Back when I started in 1992, it was like 1,000 applicants for two jobs. Now it’s vice versa,” Besson said, who served as the fire chief in Van Buren Township before relocating to Leelanau eight years ago. “We’re doing more on the retention side, so the people who stay here get a little bit of an incentive for staying. We also offer paramedics a lateral transfer which means if you have experience as a paramedic, depending on how much experience, once you pass your six month orientation, you may get bumped into a higher pay scale.”
Response times depend on if they are short staffed at one or both fire stations in the village of Leland and Lake Leelanau. Besson said Glen Lake Fire and Leland are the local departments that staff both stations in the county, so a response to a call will be slower if they’re down a person.
“We’re always going to try to have three on duty, so one at one station and two at the other,” he said. “We’ve found statistically some crucial calls that have been impacted positively by our crew being there almost immediately from the Leland station — some real life and death turnarounds because our crew is that fast. When that station is not staffed, it could hamper the outcome of the patient. One of my major focuses is to always keep that station staffed as much as I can without forcing somebody to come in to work.”
Over the years, he said they’ve seen a decline in the number of volunteers/paid-on-call firefighters as well. Although they have five people in the academy right now, Besson said sometimes they don’t live close, so if there is an immediate call, they have to come from a distance. “That’s kind of the fire service traditionally,” he said. “The county residents should be proud of the enormous growth that each fire department has taken in Leelanau County because they’re still staffed with people ready to respond. Every station has staffing, there’s no true volunteer fire stations, so that has helped… It doesn’t matter where the incident is, you’re going to see resources from all over the county going there, and that makes a big difference and positive outcome.”
