By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp. — For 2024, the Brandon Fire Department responded to 1,558 incidents, the second highest in department history.
During the regular Monday night meeting, BFD Fire Chief David Kwapis gave the Brandon Township Board of Trustees his 2024 year-end report.
“Of that, 62% were medical,” said Kwapis. “Our top three destinations for hospital transports: St. Joseph was number one, Clarkston McLaren is number two, and Health Park in Genisys Grand Blanc is the other.”
969 calls were medical calls, 131 were classified as good intent, canceled or other, 108 were police/fire assists, 105 were hazardous conditions, 97 were public assists, 65 were motor vehicle accidents, 43 were alarm malfunctions, 15 were burn complaints, 10 were structure fires, eight were grass/trash fires, and seven were vehicle fires.
“I do want to thank the sheriff’s department for their help in backing us up on medical calls,” said Kwapis. “We work really, really well together with our deputies, and likewise, and while we may give each other a bunch of grief, I don’t think there’s anything our guys or theirs wouldn’t do to help each other out.”
In addition, they continued with fire prevention classes at schools, and Stop-the-Bleed courses were also provided to the staff at Brandon Schools, along with continuing education courses that BFD personnel have completed. He also gave an updated on the tanker that the township purchased in 2022, that will be ready to be picked up from Louisiana
“We’re going down, the assistant chief, Captain Starr, and myself, we’re flying down next Tuesday,” said Kwapis. “We’re going to go over the final details of it, and the assistant chief and I are going to drive it home, hopefully starting by Wednesday morning.”