A Brief History of the Plainfield Fire Department

With a population of less than 3000 in the 1930’s, the Plainfield Township Board was resistant to investing money into a volunteer fire department despite the prompting of citizens. At that time, fire was fought by Bucket Brigades, using pails and milk cans filled with water from a well nearby. Fortunately, two dedicated citizens would not let the issue be forgotten and gathered a group of interested citizens encouraging the approval of allotting monies for a volunteer fire department. In 1945, one of those citizens, Dexter Hamilton was named fire chief of the department that he and his friend, Robert Bellamy, helped to establish.

At first, the citizens showed their appreciation to this 16 member volunteer department by hosting occasional picnics. Four or five years after the department was organized, firefighters began receiving two dollars per run. Prior to the purchase of the first department fire truck in 1953, the Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department used a Model A fire truck which Bellamy purchased from Paris Township. Shortly after that, the first fire station was built in Belmont and two more trucks were added to the fleet.

In 1961, Jack Brydges replaced Dexter Hamilton as fire chief. Chief Brydges was a proponent of excellent preparedness through quality equipment and training. It was a priority for him to ensure that the department was as well equipped as possible to respond to calls. During his time as fire chief, Brydges had 3 stations manned with 500 gallon pump trucks at each station. There were also light rescue Jeeps at stations #1 and #3, and 1-civil defense truck at station #3. A 1200 gallon tanker was also housed at the Comstock Park station. Each station had a double garage and living quarters for the full time firefighter and their family.

In 1965, the Plainfield Township Fire Commission was established by the township supervisor, A.D. Tanner. The Fire Commission’s first task was to provide the board with a 10 year plan for truck replacement and building remodeling since there was no money set aside for this at the time. Plainfield Township established a water system which served not only their township, but also some surrounding areas. Hydrant accessibility made for quicker response and suppression by the fire department, although the entire township did not have hydrant accessibility with the water system. So in 1975, with monies that had been set aside, a new 1,000 gallon tanker was purchased. Unfortunately, the existing stations had doors that were too small for the equipment to move freely in and out of the bays. So in 1976, the Fire Commission met again, this time to lay out a plan for acquiring property to build a new station #1. A short time later, in 1978, the new Belmont station was constructed across the street where it stands now next to Town Hall.

Before 1987, the department had three stations, 42 volunteer members and four full time employees. But during that year, Chief Brydges discontinued staffing at station #2 in Comstock Park and assigned volunteers to respond there if needed. Some new equipment was also purchased in the late 1980’s. There was a grass rig/ snow plow replaced, and Rescue #7 was replaced with a GMC rescue vehicle. Due to the lack of interested buyers, Rescue #7 was brought to station #1 and put in service again as Rescue #10. Five Emergency sirens were installed throughout the township in 1988 to alert citizens to dramatic conditions. Also in 1989, property was purchased by the Township as a future station site in order to better cover the Northeast quadrant of the township. By the end of the 1990, Plainfield Fire Department owned 14 vehicles; 1 new chief command car, 1 inspector car, 1-grass rig/snow plow, 4-1000 gallon pump trucks (one of which is an aerial), 1-light duty rescue, 1-medium duty rescue, 1-1500 gallon pump truck, and 3-250 gallon mini-pumpers. The township board then approved a property tax increase of ¾ of a mil for the purpose of making improvements to the fire stations, purchasing a new aerial truck and hiring more full time personnel to their 8 person staff.

In 1991, there was much activity in the fire department; 2 more firefighters were hired on full time, the turnout gear was replaced, a new 1500 gallon tanker was purchased and the station reconstruction began with an addition to Station #1. Mutual aid also made its debut in Plainfield Township during 1991 when Plainfield Fire Department joined a 39 agency agreement to supply mutual aid during calls which can not be handled by a single department. Then the next year, Chief Brydges closed Station #2 in Comstock Park, with much resistance from the Comstock Park businesses. At the time, Plainfield and Alpine Fire Departments used this station and the apparatus stored there in order to share resources. The station had been nearly abandoned due the lack of responding firefighters that lived nearby. So Plainfield Township turned the fire station over to the other occupant of that building; the Comstock Park Library. Also in 1992, the fire inspector’s vehicle was replaced, the 1966 Ford tanker was sold, Rescue #10 was completely refurbished and the 1969 aerial truck was replaced with an E-One 2000 gallon pumper and platform.

In 1993, Chief David Peterson left the Fruitport Fire Department and took the reigns as Chief of Plainfield Fire Department. Chief Peterson has directed the Plainfield Fire Department to state wide recognition as a leader in fire service training. He has not only enhanced this department’s edge on emergency response with technology and disciplined training, he also encourages other area departments’ coordination and mutual assistance. This includes a push for a central dispatch in Kent County which has been on Chief’s docket since the late 1990’s.

In 1997, Chief Peterson evaluated the benefit of consolidating Plainfield Fire Department with Rockford Fire Department, in order to cut costs. A merger was formed in November of that year creating the Plainfield/ Rockford Fire Department. This merger lasted for three years, but due to rapidly growing communities and separate managing boards, the departments split, deciding to maintain mutual aid assistance, but separate departments.

Due to the growth in the community and the fire department, Chief Peterson enlisted the help of these two seasoned firefighters. In 1998, Don Bigger was promoted to Deputy Fire Chief and in 2003 Steve McKellar was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief. Deputy Chief Don Bigger oversees the department operations and public education, including the community activities that the department is involved in. Assistant Chief Steve McKellar is responsible for the fire inspections, the Fire Academy and the Fire Safety programs. They work closely with Chief Peterson at maintaining and improving the quality of service and training this department provides. In 2001, a new plan for shift coverage was implemented; the Peterson Plan (of course, named after Chief Peterson.) Up until this time, equipment operators responded to calls with or without the paid on call firefighters assigned to their station. This could mean that there would be one firefighter responding or four firefighters responding, depending on which paid on call firefighters were available.

Due to the growing awareness of major disasters, a Heavy Rescue truck was added to the fleet in 2002 as a mobile command center for major incidents. In August of that year, Plainfield Township adopted a cost recovery ordinance to offset the cost of operation due to illegal activity causing necessary emergency response. To date, this ordinance has collected $132,000.

Right from the start, Chief Peterson identified the need for a replacement for Station #3 on Plainfield Ave. The truck bays were not tall enough and the location would not allow any expansion on the existing station. In 2004, the Plainfield fire station relocated across Plainfield Ave. to a 25,000+ square foot headquarters and training center. This state approved training facility not only houses the trainings for this department, but also is used by various other departments and agencies in the area.

Plainfield Fire Department presently employs 3 chief officers, 1 fire safety specialist, 3 lieutenants, 10 equipment operators, 27 part-time and paid on call firefighters, 6 reserves and 1 administrative assistant. The current fleet consists of 3 engines, 4 command vehicles, 1 aerial, 2 grass rigs and 2 squads. We have come a long way from the Bucket Brigades of the 1930’s and it will be fascinating to see Plainfield Fire Department in another 70 years.