Highland Park Fire Department fully staffed for the first time in 40 years

The Highland Park Fire Department is running at full staffing for the first time since 1984.

The department, founded in 1911 after the town was incorporated as a village, has survived through a series of relocations, including the use of an industrial warehouse, and a series of fires that would destroy vital equipment.

At its peak, the fire department employed more than 80 firefighters with four stations across the city, according to its website, along with two fire marshals, dispatchers, secretaries, mechanics and radio operators.

Fire Chief Erik Hollowell has worked with the department since he was a 16-year-old cadet and said he's seen the city through a lot in his 34 years.

"The problems we have go back ages," Hollowell said, "and while they're mostly financial and just needing new trucks and ladders — we've got really great people here who are putting in the work day-to-day."

Hollowell remembers working out of the original Highland Park Fire Station, built in 1917, until the structure was deemed uninhabitable in 2005 and they were sent to operate out of an industrial warehouse at 12900 Oakland Park Blvd.

A team of about 30 firefighters lived and worked out of the warehouse for eight years, ultimately converting the warehouse to a community of plywood rooms, relying on a trailer for a kitchen.

"We adapted and overcame," Lt. Bryan Jeffrey said about the years spent at the warehouse.

A 2013 micro-documentary highlighted the significant efforts of the firefighting skeleton crew responsible for a city of nearly 12,000 people at the time and an average of 200 fires a year.

The new fire department, built through a $2.7 million FEMA grant in 2009, sits on the site of the city's historic police headquarters at 25 Gerald Street across from the historic firehouse.

The new station is 14,000 square feet and equipped with a full kitchen, outdoor patio, training room, chief's office, reception area, radio room and locker room with sleeping quarters.

Hollowell said the department is currently pushing its two engines to their limit while exploring funding options for new trucks, which average $800,000 a piece.

"The engines that we use every day need to be replaced, they have some serious age on them," Hollowell said. "When you take a 25-year-old truck and try to run it like it's new — I have $89,000 of bills just for our main truck."

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The fire department has been operating on a rotation of donated fire trucks from other departments, aside from its only new purchase: a 2018 Rosenbauer ladder truck that carries 700 gallons of water and a 109-foot ladder.

The new ladder truck was purchased with $850,000 from the state through the help of state Rep. Helena Scott after a 2017 fire destroyed the department's previous truck.

Mayor Glenda McDonald, who took over leadership in 2021 and declared the city in a state of emergency in March 2023, said she's heard nothing but positive comments on the fire department in her tenure.

"I've never had one person call and say that this department was failing to do its job — even with the diminishing trucks, they're putting in the effort, showing up, and doing the work that is needed," McDonald said.

Hollowell said the department is currently staffing 32 firefighters, with a stack of more than 30 applicants waiting for their files to be reviewed.

"I'm not getting arrogant about this, OK, but they're honestly coming to us," Hollowell said. "We are a top department — I still get applications to this day from candidates across the country."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Highland Park Fire Department fully staffed for the first time in 40 years