South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority

SHAES welcomes to the ranks Mason Pletz as a new fulltime Firefighter/Paramedic. Mason is familiar with our community having served as a South Haven Beach Safety Intern the summer of 2018. He comes to us from the Penn Township (Ind.) Fire Department where he served fulltime. He has also served for 12 years as a paid-on-call member of the Sisters Lake Fire Department and employed with Medic One ambulance service. He holds a Fire Science degree from Lake Superior State University. He is a second generation firefighter.

SEE TANKER CONSTRUCTION GALLERY

Our new tanker has officially arrived. It is being outfitted so it can go into service soon. The new tanker, unit 2236, replaces a 26-year-old tanker. It was proudly built by South Haven-based Spencer Manufacturing - - single axle, nimble, able to access areas that the department’s larger tandem-axle tankers may not. It has a 2,000 gallon tank and 1,500 GPM pump.

We celebrated the arrival of the tanker with a century-old tradition during the department's annual Fire Safety Fun Night on Oct. 10.

The evening's activities began with a traditional push-in ceremony where new equipment is gently pushed into a fire station bay without the benefit of the engine. It's a tradition that dates back to the 17th century when hand-drawn fire engines, ladder wagons, hose carts, and other apparatus had to be pushed back into the station by hand after every call. The horse-drawn steam engines that followed in the 18th century could be backed-up. However, having to control the horses made it difficult to align the engine. For this reason, the horses were typically disconnected and the engine was again pushed back into the station by hand. When the first motorized fire engine was put into service in the early 19th century, firefighters continued to honor the push-in tradition, which grew to mark each new purchase of fire apparatus.

Unique to SHAES equipment is a depiction on each vehicle of the 1940s Looney Tunes cartoon character, Yosemite Sam. It is a tradition that started with the founding of the department more than a quarter of a century ago. It started when the former South Haven and Casco fire departments were joined to created the SHAES Authority. Randy Van Wynen, the SHAES chief at the time, and colleagues Keith Bierhalter and Tony Marsala selected Yosemite Sam. The department secured permission from Warner Brothers to display him for non-commercial purposes. Paul Russell from Spencer Manufacturing has been instrumental in creating the caricatures. Each Yosemite Sam depicts the purpose of the truck. Tanker trucks show him with buckets of water. On the engines he is wielding a hose and axe. Shovel and axe are in his hands on grass rigs. Sam holds the Jaws-of-Life extrication tool and a haligan tool on the Rescue truck. The department is also continuing the tradition of placing a large mural featuring an eagle and the American flag on a side of the truck.

Two South Haven firefighters were remembered at a statewide memorial on Saturday, Sept. 21. Emil Wessling and Stanley (Stan) Wakild had their names added to the Memorial Wall at the Michigan State Firemen's Association in Roscommon.

Every year on the third Saturday in September, firefighters from across the state and their families come together to honor the memory the fallen men and women of the Michigan Fire Service. At the foot of the memorial wall is a 12-foot bronze statue of a firefighter carrying a child to safety.

“Service to our community has always been of utmost importance for our members, past and present,” said South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES) Executive Director Brandon Hinz. “The years of dedicated service by Emil and Stan represent many sleepless nights, early mornings, missed dinners, interrupted holidays. Honoring them is a small token of our appreciation for their commitment to South Haven.”

Wessling served 38 years of firefighting and EMT service, first with the Casco Fire Department and then as a paid-on-call Lieutenant with South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES). He passed in 2010 at the age of 58.

Wakild was part of the fire service for over a span of six decades. He joined the South Haven Fire Department, later SHAES, in 1965, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1978 and served as Chief beginning in 1989 until his retirement in 1993. He continued to serve as a paid-on-call member. He died in 2020 at the age of 77.

SHAES welcomes new career firefighter Jess Trinklein to its ranks. Jess joined SHAES as a Paid on Call EMT-B in August, 2023. She has been a Captain with the Fennville Area Fire Department and was a dispatcher for seven years at Allegan Dispatch.

She is currently completing the Paramedic course. Jess and SHAES Paid-on-Call member Kevin Wildey are partaking in one of the first grant-funded Paramedic courses offered by the State of Michigan.

The SHAES career ranks currently has three female members and the Paid-on-Call roster includes six female members.

See photos from Annual Banquet – http://www.shaes.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=public:2024_annual_banquet

A firefighter’s career of professionalism and service to the community is being recognized in multiple ways by South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES).

In recent weeks James (JD) Quinn was promoted to a Captain in the department and on May 4 he was named the department’s 2024 Firefighter of the Year. Pictured left with Chief Brandon Hinz. The recognition was given during the department’s annual banquet.

The Firefighter of the Year is determined by a vote of the membership.

“JD cares deeply about this organization,” said Chief Brandon Hinz. “He is deeply committed on a personal level and a skilled professional who is highly respected by his colleagues.’ Quinn joined SHAES in 2002, beginning as a paid-on-call member, transitioning to career in 2009. He was presented the department’s Leadership Award in 2019.

JD is part of a great family tradition in service to the South Haven community. His father, James A. Quinn, is a paid-on-call member and his twin brother, Paul, is also a career captain. His wife, Johanna, is a career member and a son, Shawn, serves in the paid-on-call ranks. In all, there are 12 active SHAES members who are part of the Quinn fire service tradition, ranging from cadets to officers to firefighters to retirees. James A. Quinn was honored as the Firefighter of the Year in 2018-19 and Paul was presented the award in 2009-10 and again in 2019-20.

The recipient of this year’s Leadership Award is Captain Ronald (Ron) Ridley. Ridley retired as a career member in 2023.He has since continued as a paid-on-call member, extending his service to the community to 45 years.

“Ron has set the leadership bar for this department,” said Hinz. “He has led by example. He will go down in the annals of SHAES as the most dedicated, hardest working employee, co-worker and friend that his organization has ever seen.”

This year’s banquet was dedicated to the SHAES governing board. In appreciation, the department presented badges to President Ross Stein, representing South Haven Township; Vice President Allan Overhiser, Casco Township; Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Whaley, Geneva Township; member Annie Brown, Mayor of City of South Haven; and member Kate Hosier, South Haven City Manager.

“These folks don’t get paid for attending our monthly meetings, a few for 28 years,” said Hinz. “They are as committed to serving our community as any member on the active roster.”

The department honored members for years of service – Ronald Ridley, 45 years; Paul Quinn, 30 years; Brandon Hinz, 25 years; Patrick Quinn and Timothy Quinn, 15 years; Johanna Quinn and Steven Cavadas, 10 years; and Aaron Sawyer, Amanda Quinn, Jacob Clemons, Phil Poole, Kevin Wildey and Zach Hanner, 5 years.

Several members were honored for professional achievements: Corey Capel, Fire Officer 1 and 2; Rex Haner, Fire Officer 2; Brian Horan, Jr., Fire Officer 3; Dawn Nyhof, Dive Rescue and EMT-B; Jacob Clemons and Will Cooper, Fire Officer; Kevin Wildey, Jessica Trinklein, Shawn Quinn and Jazmin Cortez, Paramedic.

A new certified Tech Rescue Team was created consisting of Dawn Nyhof, Rex Haner, Johanna Quinn, David Griessel, Ron Ridley, Zach Kenreich, Corey Capel, Paul Pant and Will Cooper.

Members of a new Cadets class are Ayden Quinn, Sam Rose and Lyla Quinn.

Joining the department as paid-on-call members were Dawn Nyhof, Shelby Forker, Jessica Trinklein and Brandon Brown. Joining the ranks as fulltime firefighters/paramedics were William Cooper, Paul Pant and Shyanne Foster. SHAES provides fire and emergency medical services to Casco, Geneva and South Haven Townships and the City of South Haven. In 2023 the department responded to a record 2,679 calls.

“Throughout the history of SHAES and the previous South Haven and Casco fire departments we have prided ourselves on compassionate care for our EMS patients, quick response and aggressive fire suppression,” said Hinz. “Our members have always gone the additional step, to do that extra…and it shows.”

Read more SHAES News – http://www.shaes.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=public:2024_review