Grant Fire Chief Ron Melchert
Now he needs his community’s help
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
GRANT TOWNSHIP — Ron Melchert Jr. and the Grant Township Fire Department are symbiotic. Chief Melchert has served the department since it began in 1977. Technically, he didn’t join until 1978, when he turned 18 and graduated from Mason County Central High School. However, he helped his father, Ron Melchert Sr., and others, build the department’s station on Hoague Road.
Ron Sr. began serving as a firefighter on the Free Soil/Meade Fire Department in the 1950s. In the mid-70s, Michigan State Police Trooper Dick Rowley and Scottville Fire Chief Jimmy White laid the foundation for Grant Township to have a fire department.
“Dick had been a firefighter in Clare County and he patrolled basically from the Mason-Manistee county line south to Scottville,” Ron (Ronnie), 65, said. “He would go into Jimmy’s restaurant in Scottville and they would talk about fire departments and the need for better coverage in the rural areas. They then helped create a proposal to the county board of commissioners.”
Melchert’s dad served as Grant Township Fire Department’s first assistant chief. The younger Melchert started taking firefighter certification classes, known as Firefighter I and Firefighter II. At a young age, he was promoted to second lieutenant.
“I was around during the day and they needed someone who could be in charge,” Melchert said. “So, they made me a lieutenant.”
In 1983, Melchert became one of the first medical first responders on his department, and one of the first in the county.
Since 2005, he has served as chief.
“This is just something that has come naturally to me,” Melchert said. “We have our own community here, on the northern end of Mason County, and just south of the Manistee County line. I live right here and work right here. We are neighbors helping our neighbors. I couldn’t think of anything else I would want to do.”
Naturally, Melchert has seen many changes in the fire service in his nearly five decades of service. Training has increased. Personal protective equipment, such as the turnout gear firefighters wear and the self contained breathing apparatuses (air packs), have improved.
Communications were significantly improved when Mason-Oceana 911 was formed in 1995.
“I can remember when we didn’t even have pagers,” Melchert said. “We would receive a phone call from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, whose telephone number was the county’s emergency number, and then we would have a phone chain. In the early 80s we got pagers That was a really big deal. Then, when 911 started, we really saw major improvements.”
But, the biggest local change and improvement, Melchert said, was the creation of the Mason County Rural Fire Authority in 1996. The fire authority was formed after the Mason County Board of Commissioners chose to eliminate funding of fire service in the county, a responsibility it had shared with the county’s townships, villages and cities since 1947.
The fire authority covers the City of Scottville, villages of Free Soil, Fountain, and Custer, and townships of Grant, Free Soil, Meade, Victory, Sherman, Sheridan, Amber, Custer, Branch, Riverton, Eden, and Summit. Since its inception, it has been funded by 1 mill; nine years ago, an additional .5 mill was approved by voters to cover equipment replacement. That mill has since expired. On Aug. 5, the Mason County Fire Authority is asking voters to approve 2 mills (see related story here).
“Prior to the rural fire authority, we basically had second-hand equipment, including our trucks and turnout gear. We received some funds from the county and we held fundraisers, but neither were enough to provide the quality service that residents deserved.
Today, Grant Fire Department provides a variety of emergency services to its residents, along with the surrounding communities. In addition to fire and medical response, the department also responds to vehicle extrication calls with its specially trained extrication technicians.
“I definitely support the request for 2 mills. We need it in order to maintain our current coverage and see improvements in the future.”
The department does face challenges. One of those challenges is personnel.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult for us to have personnel responding to the day, especially on medical calls,” Melchert said. “And, medicals are what we are dispatched to the most.”
Several of the members have also recently experienced a variety of health challenges, and the chief is no exception.
On June 13, Ron had a medical scope procedure. He had been having some issues swallowing. The doctors found a tumor in his esophagus. Following a month’s worth of testing, Ron has been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer.
“I will start chemotherapy soon,” Ron said. “It’s gone beyond the point where I can do radiation or surgery. The chemo is normally a five-week therapy and mine will be 12 weeks.”
But, Ron Melchert has faced many battles in his life and has helped save many lives, along with countless homes.
The Mason County Rural Fire Authority has committed to help him in his fight. The fire authority’s insurance policy includes coverage of cancer up to a certain amount. He said several others from the fire service community have stepped forward to help as well.
“We will fight this and I’ll keep going,” Ron said. “Whatever it takes.”
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