South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority

South Haven Area Emergency Services has started its program of flying safety flags at city beaches for the summer months.

Lake Michigan conditions as determined by the National Weather Service are monitored by SHAES personnel.

Beach warning flags are placed at the city's seven public beaches every day between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. The flags are changed throughout the day if lake conditions change. The flags are either green, yellow or red based on the conditions.

A numbering system for the nearby beach flag poles and pier safety boxes has been developed to assist during a time of emergency as a point of reference.

The status of the flags is also posted on the internet – http://www.south-haven.com/parks_and_recreation/beach_flag_information.php

Link to SHAES Beach Safety website – http://www.shaes.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=public:beach_safety

South Haven Area Emergency Services is pleased to announce that Fire Fighter/Paramedic Brandon Hinz has been named the Executive Director/Chief for South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES).

Hinz was selected by the SHAES Authority Board following a national search. A committee of citizens participated in the selection process.

Hinz will succeed current Executive Director Ronald Wise who will be retiring on Sept 30. He will begin his duties June 1 and will work alongside Wise.

“Brandon has a solid reputation for being a hardworking, self-motivated and trustworthy member of SHAES,” said Ross Stein, South Haven Township Supervisor who chairs the SHAES Board. “After multiple rounds of interviews he was clearly the best choice to lead the organization for years to come.”

“SHAES has been an integral part of my life,” said Hinz. “I am very proud to have been a part of this organization for the past 21 years. I will continue to lead SHAES toward all our collective goals with hard work and integrity. Together, we will further our mission of providing the residents of the greater South Haven area with the best fire, rescue and EMS services.

Hinz joined the SHAES staff in 1999. A lifelong resident of the South Haven community, he started as a paid-on-call responder and since 2005 has been a fulltime firefighter/paramedic. He currently oversees the department’s maintenance service, assists in the training program and has served as an acting Captain. In 2012 he was presented the department’s Leadership Award. He is completing Blue Card Command training which is a nationally recognized training and certification program for fire command officers.

Brandon lives in Geneva Township with his wife Dawn and sons Jake and Cal. He enjoys farming as a way to relax raising crops and pigs.

The SHAES staff came to work and found words of encouragement and appreciation in front of the Station 3 bay doors from our community.

Our staff has been receiving snacks and gift cards from community members to local restaurants for take out meals as a way to say “thank you” and to help support our local businesses.

Capt. Ron Ridley is displaying a face shield that was designed and built by South Haven's Do-it corporation. The face shields provide full face protection when staff is helping COVID-19 patients. Do-it is shipping these shields all across the United States to help fill a shortage of personal protective equipment. The company made sure South Haven first responders (police, fire and EMS) were the first to get some and donated two boxes of 100 face shields to SHAES and to SHPD. Thank you to Do-It corporation for helping us.