1951 – today
Our History
Seventy-five years of neighbors protecting neighbors.
Station #1 was chartered on May 14, 1951. Since then the apparatus has changed, the station has changed, and generations of firefighters have come through the doors. The idea has not changed at all.
- 75
- years
- 4
- chiefs on record
- 1951
- chartered
Who has led Station #1
Bar length shows years in the chief's chair.
- Not yet known 1951 – 1966 16 yrs
- Chief Fred Beckman 1967 – 2005 38 yrs
- Chief Gary Maynard c. 2005 – 2018 13 yrs
- Chief Ryan Klaer 2018 – 2026 8 yrs
- Chief Jim Robinson 2026 – serving
Chief Beckman's thirty-eight years span most of the department's modern development. Chief Robinson had already given the department thirty-six years, as firefighter and then assistant chief, before taking the chief's position — as had Chief Klaer and Chief Maynard before him. Every chief on this list came up through these doors.
Nobody has yet established who led Station #1 in its first sixteen years. We would rather leave the line blank than fill it with a guess.
The record
- 1951
Chartered May 14, 1951. Ten men share that start date on the department's earliest surviving roster.
- 1955
Township voters approve a two-mill assessment and $50,000 in bonds to build a fire department — 325 to 57.
- 1958
The Michigan Supreme Court upholds that election in St. Joseph Township v. Municipal Finance Commission.
- 1963
Five firefighters are injured at the Win Schuler's restaurant fire, among them a future chief — Fred Beckman.
- 1967
Chief Fred Beckman takes command, and holds it for thirty-eight years.
- 1983
Aerial 1852 is delivered. It answers calls for four decades.
- 1989
The present Station #1 is built at the township hall site, on Washington Avenue.
- 2005
Chief Beckman answers his final call in November.
- 2018
Chief Gary Maynard steps down; Chief Ryan Klaer is appointed by the township board.
- 2022
Squad 1822, a pumper-rescue, enters service — the newest apparatus on the floor.
- 2026
Chief Klaer's service ends after nearly twenty-five years. Chief Jim Robinson takes the position.
The trucks that answered
Station #1 apparatus that has been retired, from the Berrien County Firefighters Association archive.
Photographs by former Assistant Chief Gerry Kabelman and the late David White, a retired Bridgman firefighter, from the Berrien County Firefighters Association archive. The trucks in service today
The first ten
Ten members share the charter date itself on the department's earliest surviving roster.
- Phillip Morse
- George Pierce
- George Pitts
- Orville Schrage
- Clifford Skorupa
- Louis Taylor
- Walter Tedrick
- Walter Thompson
- Fred Wesner
- Gustave Wesner
That roster came from the department's old website, which is no longer online, so these names are not yet confirmed against original records. If one of them is family to you, we would like to hear from you.
Help us fill the gaps
A department's history lives in attics as much as in archives. We are looking for the first chiefs, photographs of the old station at Hilltop and Washington, early apparatus, and anything belonging to a member who served. Originals are scanned and returned.