| Year |
Event |
| 1940 |
Waterford Township erects a new Town Hall building with accommodations for a fire truck. |
| 1941 |
The Waterford Fire Department is established and the first fire truck purchased was a 1941 GMC Pumper. |
| 1945 |
The first resuscitator for the Department was purchased. Advancements in fire fighting techniques and first aid stem from WWII. |
| 1950 |
The first 2-way radios were purchased for the Department. Township population reaches 24,128. |
| 1952 |
Station 2 was built on Walton Blvd. to better serve residents in the northern area of the Township. |
| 1953 |
Station 3 was built on Elizabeth Lake Rd. near Huron St. in the Huron Gardens and Lincoln Heights district of the Township. |
| 1959 |
Waterford fire fighters organize and join the International Association of Fire Fighters and become Local 1335. |
| 1964 |
The first resusci-Annie is purchased to practice mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. |
| 1974 |
Station 4 is built on Williams Lake Road to speed responses to the growing northwest part of the Township. The population in the Township soars to 60,000. |
| 1976 |
A millage is passed to establish EMS services in Waterford. This included the purchase of a new Advanced Life Support squad, emergency medical equipment and the needed manpower. |
| 1979 |
Station 5 is built on North Hospital Road to respond to Waterford's growing population and for a faster response time to the Oakland Community College Highland Lakes Campus. |
| 1982 |
A new Township Hall is built in the new Civic Center Complex and the old Town Hall building is given to the Fire Department to use as Fire Station 1. With a $5,000 grant from the Township, the firefighters remodeled all three levels of the old Town Hall, converting it into living quarters, vehicle bays, and administrative offices. |
| 1988 |
A second millage was passed allowing the department to expand it's EMS services. A second Advanced Life Support squad was purchased, additional medical equipment and manpower were added. |
| 1989 |
The old Station 3 was torn down and a new station was erected in it's place near the corner of Elizabeth Lake Road and Cass Lake Road. |
| 1990 |
Township population exceeds 70,000 and run volumes surpass 4,000 alarms annually. |
| 1991 |
The department purchased its first aerial truck, a 1991 Sutphen 100 foot aerial ladder truck. It can reach the heights of Lakeland Place Apartments and the Oakland County Executive Office Building. It can also stretch over Summit Place Mall, Meijers and the GM Part Plant.
|
| 1992 |
The Professional Firefighters Union establishes the Fire Relief Fund. This fund will allow firefighters to provide immediate assistance to Waterford residents that are displaced after a house fire. We provide hotel stay, clothing and even food supplies. It is funded through fundraisers held throughout the year and donations from private sources.
|
| 1998 |
Both the initial and second millage pass ensuring the continuance of Advanced Life Support services in Waterford for another 10 years. Waterford Township establishes a central dispatch center for dispatching police, fire and EMS emergencies. |
| 1999 |
The Waterford Fire Department Honor Guard is formed and a Special Response Team is organized and trained to respond to hazardous chemical emergencies. |
| 2000 |
Fire Marshal Dennis Storrs is promoted to the position of Fire Chief of the Waterford Fire Department.
A new Fire Department Headquarters building is erected incorporating the administrative offices, a state-of-the-art training facility, and adjoining living quarters and apparatus bays for Fire Station 1.
Waterford Fire Department begins to provide Fire and EMS service to the 300 residents of the City of Lake Angelus. Waterford joins the Oakway Mutual Aid Pact combining forces with nine neighboring agencies
|
| 2001 |
The Training Division is formed and the Waterford Fire Department begins providing training to not only it's own personnel, but outside agencies and the general public. CPR and Basic First Aid classes are offered to the public for the first time. The Waterford EMS Academy is founded, a fully accredited EMS school, and a whole host of EMS education programs are offered to fire and EMS professionals throughout Michigan and across state lines. Plans are underway to provide a State certified fire academy in the near future.
September 11, 2001 - Terrorists fly two commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center buildings. A third jetliner crashes into the Pentagon and a fourth jetliner crashes into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives including 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics from the FDNY. Waterford Firefighters conduct a successful "Fill the Boot" campaign to raise money for the families of the New York Firefighters that lost their lives in this tragic event. 10 Waterford Firefighters drive out to New York to meet with on duty firefighters and present our donation.
|
| 2003 |
A new millage was passed enabling the Waterford Fire Department to add a much needed 3rd Advanced Life Support squad to its fleet. Thirteen additional firefighters, most of them are already licensed paramedics, were hired to staff the new squad. |
| 2004 |
Funds were raised, apart from taxpayer money, to purchase a mobile fire safety house. This house and the associated hands-on program is used to teach Waterford citizens, primarily school children, home fire safety and how to survive and escape a fire. Thousands of people per year participate in this life-saving program. |
| 2005 |
A Waterford church partners up with the Fire Department and the Police Department for a pancake breakfast which is held at Fire Department Headquarters. This annual event which takes place during the week of September 11, brings firefighters, police officers, and the community together to honor the memory of those that perished in the 2001 terrorist attack. Monies received from the pancake breakfast raises funds for the charities funds of both departments.
|
| 2007 |
Fire Department purchases a rescue boat for any water emergencies that occur on one of our 27 lakes. |
| 2008 |
Technology upgraded to include 24-hour status monitors at all fire stations so that on duty personnel have live up to the minute information as to where every fire department unit is located, and the type of calls that are occurring. Fire Department receives a 6x6 Polaris Ranger from a grant program. It is used for any and all off road emergencies, such as brush fires, lost children, snowmobile or bicycle accidents.
|
| 2009 |
Waterford Fire Department began full-time transporting of EMS patients to local hospitals. Because of that, Fire Stations 2 and 5 were remodeled to accommodate more personnel at each station.
Rescue 2 was moved from Fire Station 1 to Station 2. An additional bathroom, and office space was added. Additionally, a pitched roof had to be built to prevent further roof leakages from causing damage to this very old station. Rescue 5 was put in service on September 1, 2009, responding out of Station 5. Living room, bedroom and bathrooms were updated.
|
| 2012 |
Battalion Chief Ron Spears is promoted to the position of Fire Chief of the Waterford Fire Department.
February 1, 2012, the Waterford Fire Department begins providing Fire and EMS service to the City of Pontiac and its 59,515 citizens. Waterford hires 42 former Pontiac Firefighters to provide this service. This creates the largest Fire Department staffing in Oakland County. Three of the five Pontiac Fire Stations are kept open. Three engines, two tower trucks, a ladder equipment truck and a Captain are available to respond by Waterford Firefighters in the City of Pontiac. One of the closed Pontiac Fire Stations will become a special response station.
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