Van Buren Township Fire Dept. is well-run, approachable

The following was submittted by Staff Reporter Jerry LaVaute:

My wife hosted a baby shower recently, and some of her family from New York came for a visit.

Among them was my nephew Zachary, who is a volunteer firefighter in a small town in central New York.

Zach, who’s been a firefighter for a couple years, was interested in seeing how the local Fire Department was run.

On Friday evening, after they arrived, my wife called Van Buren Township Fire Chief Darwin Loyer and asked if he would show Zach around a bit.

Darwin said yes, that he would be working in his office on the weekend, and to give him a call.

Around 11 a.m. on Saturday, after calling Darwin to confirm, Zach and I drove to Fire Station #2 on Ecorse Road, where Darwin has his office.

After a little help getting into the building and being directed to his office, we sat with Darwin, and he and Zach exchanged facts, ideas and views about firefighting.

I was an interested but under-educated listener when it came to firefighting skills, but I was impressed with Darwin’s willingness and patience as our host.

The discussion was followed by a tour of the fire station, only the first time I’d been inside either of the two relatively new fire stations.

Ironically, I’d visited Fire Station #1 on the south side for the first time only a few days earlier, for a story on which I was working.

The tour was amazing – it’s an impressive facility, with impressive equipment.

It was clear that Chief Loyer, who was the Fire Chief in Belleville until last September, was proud of his new department.

It looks as if someone who knew what they were doing cared. And what more can you ask of a public employee, or anyone?