PAW PAW, Mich. — The Paw Paw Fire Department will host an open house Saturday to give community members the first look at the new station.
The department was able to invest $5.9 million into this 21,000 square foot facility after voters approved the project back in 2020.
“I just can’t believe it sometimes. Sometimes, I pinch myself. Is this real?” Fire Chief Jim DeGroff said Friday. “Our way to say thank you. Come see what you built for us. Have a hot dog. Have your kids learn some fire safety and have some fun.”
Chief DeGroff and his 40 active volunteers have been working at the new station on M-40 for just a few months.
“We’re not getting paid so we kind of entice our guys with food. We have a couple of great cooks in the department. It’s commercial grade. We also built this building for 60 years from now. I have no idea what this is going to look like in 60 years. There may be members living here, I don’t know. The kitchen should definitely handle what needs to be done,” Chief DeGroff added.
But he says the kitchen isn’t even the best part— Chief DeGroff’s favorite addition is the washroom.
“The gear is removed and all of the carcinogens on that gear is washed off, immediately put into extractors and dried in this big dryer here,” he said.
Not only will Saturday be a celebration, but also a tribute to those who made the fire department what it is today.
“There’s not a day, an hour or a minute, a second that goes by that I don’t think any of our members don’t think about Ethan [Quillen]. Think about that day…I don’t think we’ll ever be over. We’re very close with his family and they are truly part of our family,” Chief DeGroff said. “Past Chief Melvin Bud Johnson, salt of the earth, one of the best men I’ve ever known in my life, always had. That’s why, like, Ethan always had that smile, always had wisdom for the younger members.”
Saturday’s open house starts at noon.
