See 2018 in Review in Photos – http://www.shaes.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=public:2018_review

Read Complete Annual Report – http://www.shaes.org/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=public:2018_shaes_annual_report.pdf

South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES) responded to more than 2,000 calls for the sixth consecutive year according to the department’s Annual Report for 2018.

SHAES serves the city of South Haven and the townships of Casco, Geneva and South Haven from three stations.

“A dedicated staff and a supportive community continues to allow us to provide a very high level of service,” said Chief Ronald Wise.

The 2,085 responses were the fifth highest in department history. The all-time record is 2,276 in 2016.

There were 579 fire alarm responses and 1,506 medical calls in 2018. There were 955 responses in the city of South Haven, followed by 415 in South Haven township, 349 in Geneva township and 304 in Casco township. SHAES provided mutual aid to other fire departments on 62 occasions and received assistance 31 times.

Property losses from fire in 2018 totaled $709,000 compared to $316,500 in 2017. Geneva township experienced the biggest fire loss ($457,000), followed by the city of South Haven at $145,500. Next were South Haven township ($58,000) and Casco township ($48,500).

There were no civilian fire-related injuries or injuries in 2018. There was four incidents in which a firefighter was injured in either at an emergency scene or a training exercise.

The department is comprised of 16 fulltime staff and 37 paid-on-call firefighters. The department continued an expanded community-wide pre-planning and inspection program. Staff has now completed pre-fire surveys at 448 of the 516 businesses in the SHAES coverage area. There were also 139 short-term rental inspections during the year.

The department continued its active public education programs with safety presentations to nearly 1,900 people at schools, senior living facilities, businesses and to civic groups. An estimated 450 children and adults attended the annual Fire Safety Fun Night.

A power point program highlighting the history of the department and explaining current SHAES services was developed for presentation to community groups.

During 2018 the department acquired a new 4×4 Paramedic Ambulance and state-of-the-art battery-powered Jaws of Life rescue tools.