By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Twp.-On Monday night township firefighter Kevin Mason was named the new fire chief.
“The board was unanimous on this,” said Bob DePalma, township supervisor following the announcement. Township Trustee Jim Christopher was absent from the meeting and no roll call vote was taken by the board.
“There is nobody that I think I have a higher degree of faith in and more impressed in the last year,” he said on Monday.

“I’m impressed with his ability to come up with excellent suggestions for the fire department, he also did an excellent job of educating the fire board on issues that we may not have been aware of. There’s nobody more committed to the citizens here and nobody is more committed to preserve the Groveland Fire Department.”
“The job was not posted but we did not post the job for Steve McGee when he became fire chief,” said DePalma after the meeting. “We did make Kevin the assistant (fire) chief about a year ago.”
Following the decision pay hikes from 1 to 2 percent were approved 4-0 by the trustees.
“Bob and I worked through the budget over the past nine months and one of the big things was a pay raise,” said Mason. “Some people at McDonald’s was making more than our guys.”
DePalma made a motion to adjust the pay of shift and on call firefighters to match the schedule approved by the chief retroactive April 1. The board did make a motion to adjust Mason’s pay to the chief’s wage and benefits effective Aug. 1.
Mason, 59, who served as assistant fire chief since August 2017 replaced fire chief Steve McGee who retired in July after more than 40 years with the township.
Mason served in the United States Marines from 1977-1999. As an enlisted Marine, he was an air traffic control radar technician. He was later a maintenance officer for the air traffic control then an embarkation officer—advising the commander on matters pertaining to embarkation planning such as loading ships, trucks and planes. He served on the helicopter carrier USS Gwam, was part of the Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
“I went in as a private and retired as a major,” said Mason. “I was deployed all the time.”
After the Marines he was employed by American Axle in Detroit and later Cold Saw Precision in Inkster.
“I was a Marine for 22 years and it was an exciting job,” he said. “I was in the office at American Axle and I was board. Steve McGee had taken over as chief and was looking for volunteer firefighters. I wanted to be part of it.”
He joined the township fire department in January 2002. He has been a full time firefighter for about 11 years. Mason was key in improving the ISO rating from four to three earlier this year.
Kevin is a township resident and is married to Dalen. The couple have two boys Justin and Matthew, both Brandon High School graduates.
“We have to build up the team again,” he said. “Focus on the township, and making sure the department is financially viable. We will also reinstitute training everyday. The military is all about leadership and setting an example to others. One person can make a difference but everyone can make a huge difference. We need trust and confidence in your people.”