By Danielle James
mlive.com
BYRON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — After nearly two years of planning and construction, Byron Township has opened its $2.4 million fire station, the area’s second station built to address a growing population.
Since its opening on Sept. 22, the addition of the 6675 Clay Ave. SW station has shortened response times, according to Byron Township Fire Chief Bryan Looman.
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“When there’s a fire in this area, you’re going to get two trucks right away,” he said. “We can use each other for vehicle accidents that are manpower intensive. We can use each other if this unit ends up going to the other side of our township and we get another call.”
Since the 1950s, Byron Township has relied on the Cutlerville Fire Department, which serviced both Byron and Gaines townships through an agreement where each jointly owned and operated the department.
Cutlerville is located in Byron and Gaines townships, with Division Avenue being the dividing line between the two. The Cutlerville fire station is located at 11 68th St. SW.
But in July 2023, Byron Township leaders voted to give a one-year notice that they would be leaving that agreement. Township leaders said the decision was prompted by population growth.
Byron Township, located in the southwest corner of Kent County, had a population of 26,927 as of the 2020 census, an increase of over 6,000 from the 2010 census.
Looman said at the time the township began to consider expanding, call volumes were only increasing. Last year the Cutlerville station was getting approximately 2,500 calls a year.
“There’s enough work here for both of us along that Division corridor,” said Looman, a township employee for over 10 years and fire chief for the last six.
In 2023, it was determined that one township would take over and fully operate the Cutlerville station, while the other would build and staff its own fire station in Cutlerville.
Byron Township built the new station, housed on about 3.5 acres formerly owned by the state Department of Transportation . Looman said the township worked with the state to purchase the land.
The property was especially favorable because of its proximity to both M-6 and U.S. 131, two higher-traffic highways that he said the township frequently utilizes to get to calls.
The dividing line for services is now Division Avenue, with the new building covering a little over 35 miles of more densely populated township space in the north and east. The original station covers a larger, rural area in the south and west.
Looman said both stations can still respond to calls when necessary, part of a mutual aid agreement that he said makes the volume of calls a lot more manageable.
To staff the new facility, Looman said the township added six full-time firefighters, which he said will help fill gaps.
“It’s very difficult to get on-call staff to be able to commit and show up regularly to calls,” he said. “Having full-time staffing is more of a guaranteed solution.”
The department now has a total 16 full-time employees, he said, along with 11 additional on-call firefighters, a chief, deputy chief and two fire inspectors.
One of those fire inspectors was also the contractor that designed and built the new fire station, Looman said, the same contractor that helped renovate the other station when it transitioned to a 24/7 staffing model.
“It’s a big job,” Looman said. “We kind of sidelined him for 10 or 11 months, and his job was to oversee the building project.”
By doing that, the township was able to save big on the new station. Looman said other similar builds in the area cost closer to $6, $8 or even $10 million to complete, compared to $2.4 million for Byron Township’s station.
Looman said the decision also allowed his team near “total control” over the project, ensuring it was built to perfectly account for firefighter needs.
The new building includes four bedrooms, two locker rooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, living/dining area, workshop, gym, patio, office spaces for full-time firefighting staff and a separate hold for gear.
He said the community response has been great so far, with higher-than-expected turnout at an open house held earlier this fall.
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