MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Within the last month, the Meridian Township Fire Department has promoted two new men. Tavis Millerov was promoted to Fire Inspector in January after he was qualified to test for the position and scored the highest out of three other prospects on the state test. Chris Dinsdale who was also promoted the same day, took the position of full-time EMS paramedic.

Maintaining at least thirty fire fighters in suppression at a time and four administrative staff, the fire department doesn't just hire anyone. Without basic credentials such as having at least a bachelor’s degree, two-to-five years of experience and certifications to be both a fire fighter and an EMS paramedic, the departmental standards to serve the community remain extremely high.

“Pretty much every day of the week were doing training of some sort,” says EMS and Training Chief, Bill Priese. Some of the base minimum training drills the fire fighters go through include EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), paramedic, advanced cardiac life support, CPR training and also HAZMAT training which is an operations course that involves getting the fire fighters prepared and knowledgeable in handling hazardous materials.

Fire Chief, Fred Cowper, expresses the fact that he is most proud of the employees’ hard work ethic during the most recent snow and ice storm. He added that on Christmas Eve there were six house fires, which led to one man on the force to work 37 hours straight without sleep.

“Our calls in our fire department in Meridian have gone up by 1,000 a year,” Chief Cowper said. "With training protocols constantly changing, the department is devoted day in and day out to work diligently in order to best serve the needs of the community."