WARSAW — The Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory met Tuesday, June 7, to discuss reports and promotions.

Michael Brubaker was promoted to captain of the fire department. He began his duties June 5. Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “I’m very appreciative to see that, because I know when Mike was ready to step down as chief and just wanted to be firefighter … I told him that was great, but he had leadership and eventually would utilize his skills to lead the younger guys in the department … he stepped up to do that so, I’m sure he’s going to do a fine job for you and I’m happy to see that.”

Battalion Chief Aaron Bolinger will be traveling to Ohio to take Occupational Safety and Health Administration classes. Fire Chief Mike Wilson said, “His drive to assist us and to assist the city is exceptional. He has stepped up … he’s taking these OSHA classes to get the certifications that we’re going to need locally, not only as a fire territory, but also for the city of Warsaw to be able to OSHA inspections and OSHA training in-house.”

Wilson presented a new format for the month of April activity report, to everyone’s approval. Wilson said, “What I have done is … broken down by township and city and the type of fire … the fire calls that we go on, the location by address, the dollar amount loss and what type of property it was … and what the fire cause was.” Wilson said the new reports will be easier to follow than the fire house reporting system.

Wilson said Winona Lake Police Department is giving up the car seat program, but the fire station will remain an inspection station for the proper installation of car seats. He said Lutheran Hospital will be the host agent for the grants and they will try to do all the new car seat installs there, “because that’s where the babies are born.”

In other business:

• The fire department continues to participate in the city smoke detector program, which provides free smoke detectors and installation.
• The department had 180 responses in April.
• April expenditures were approved.
• Travel authorization was given to Lt. Travis Rowland, Captain Michael Brubaker, Brandon Allen and Brent Fifer to travel to Marion, Wisc., for the first construction meeting for the new rescue truck. The truck should be ready by July or August of 2017.

The next Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Protection Territory meeting will be 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 5.