The SHAES Authority, consisting of the city of South Haven and townships of Casco, Geneva and South Haven, was founded in 1996. “SHAES has blossomed into an organization that has surpassed anyone’s expectations,” said Executive Director Brandon Hinz. “Fire-based Advanced Life Support transport such as we provide is an oddity in Michigan, an oddity in the nation. It’s an oddity because it’s hard. It’s difficult to manage, it’s difficult to operate. It takes a village to provide this type of service.”

SHAES provides its service using a combination of career and paid-on-call staff, another rarity according to Hinz. “Most fire departments that provide transport EMS are much larger than SHAES,” Hinz explained. He noted that in Michigan, out of 1,001 fire departments only 23 provide ALS transport.

The SHAES staff consists of 22 career and 29 paid-on-call members. A recently created cadet program numbers five members. The department operates from three stations. In 2025 the department responded to a record 2,920 alarms, 2,021 medical and 899 fire calls.

A highlight of the banquet was the recognition of members for service and accomplishments. Firefighter/paramedic Cody Sedlak, a member of the department for 10 years, is the Firefighter of the Year. He served as a paid-on-call member for four years before joining the career ranks. The honor of Firefighter of the Year is determined by members of the department.

“Cody told me once that it was always his dream to become a SHAES firefighter/paramedic,” said Hinz. “His ownership of this organization is almost extreme. He is our “go to” person when a task needs to be completed.” An example was the way Sedlak took the lead in outfitting the three new grass fire rigs acquired by the department in recent months.

The SHAES Leadership Award was presented to firefighter/paramedic Paul Pant. A relatively new member of the career staff, in only 2.5 years Pant has taken the lead in securing outside financial support for the department. He has also been in the forefront of creating an awareness within the department of the need to serve members’ mental health needs.

“Thanks to Paul we’re focusing on breaking a stigma surrounding mental health among public servants,” said Hinz. “In cooperation with the South Haven Police Department, a support program has been created to address the mental health needs of our members.” “

An average person experiences three to four traumatic events in their lifetime,” observed Hinz. “Our staff experiences an average of two per month. This can take a toll over the course of a career.”

A formal swearing-in ceremony welcomed nine new members – Luke Thompson FF, Sam Rose FF, Ayden Quinn FF, Josh Klein FF/EMT-B, Corey Heuer FF/EMT-B, Jacon Infante FF/EMT-B, Lily McCorry FF/EMT-B, Brock Lovell FF/EMT-B and Jacob Mulder FF/EMT-B.

Years of Service pins were presented to several members – Allan Overhiser (40 years), Tom Renner (35 years), Ross Stein and Brad Filbrandt (30 years) and Cody Sedlak (10 years).

Three members received promotions during the past year – Captain Brian Montgomery, Lieutenants Phillip Quinn and Rex Haner.

A fun highlight of the banquet was the formal swearing-in ceremony of the cadets – Scott Ritchie, Alyssa Ockerman, Nick Rainey, Brenden Cramer and Payton Haner. The ceremony was held at the very beginning because several cadets needed to leave in order to attend their high school prom. ## NOT EVERYTHING IS SERIOUS AT THE FIREHALL – Check out these awards.