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July 21, 2016
Warm welcome
New fire chief named in Inkster
I
NKSTER
ChuckHubbard became the
new firechief in InksteronJune
22andhe'sbeenabusymanever
since.
Hubbard,who retired as the
fire chief inAnnArbor in 2013,
spentmore than 25 years as a
firefighterwith thatdepartment
before beingnamed chief there
in2011.Hebeganhiscareerasa
firefighter in 1985 and rose
steadily through the ranksbeing
promoted to fireapparatusdriv-
er, lieutenant,battalionchiefand
assistant chief prior to being
named as the top fire depart-
mentofficial.
The InksterFireDepartment
consists of 21 uniformed fire-
fighters,who serve in three,
seven-man units.The depart-
ment has one stationwith one
engine,oneaerial,andoneEMS
unit.Thedepartment responded
toover 5400 requests for service
lastyear.
Hubbard saidhe cameoutof
retirement tohelp inInksterand
was looking forward toworking
with thedepartment.He saidhe
has both short and long-term
goals for thedepartment, includ-
ing the development of a com-
prehensiveplan tomaintain the
current staffing levels andmove
towardmeeting theNational
FireProtectionAssociationstan-
dardforstaffing.
“Thiswill improve firefighter
safetyandourservice to theciti-
zens,”hesaid.
He alsowants tomaintain
adequatefrontlineequipmentin
the department, another effort
he said, “to enhance our ability
tobetterservethecitizens.”
Hubbard said he hopes to
develop a plan to negotiate a
competitivebenefitspackage for
Inkster firefighters thatwill
encourage long-term career
goalsand increasemorale in the
department.
Healsostressed thathewants
tomaintain a positive progres-
sive relationship between the
firedepartment as awhole, the
citizensandcityofficials.
In the long-term, he said he
wants to keep an open line of
communicationwith theneigh-
boring firedepartments regard-
ing the formationofaarea-wide
fireauthority,something thathas
been discussed in the area for
sometime.
“I want to help make the
Inkster Fire Department an
accredited organization by
national standards,” he said,
“and also work on capital
improvementinitiatives.”
Hubbard's long listof creden-
tials includeabachelor'sdegree
in businessmanagement from
EasternMichiganUniversityand
graduation from theFire Staff
and Command school. He is
HazMat and technical rescue
trained and aqualifiedmedical
first responder, along with
numerous other certifications
andqualifications.
Since becoming chief,
Hubbard said therehasbeenno
lack of fire and rescue runs,
some of them requiring assis-
tancefromotherdepartments.
Agarage fireJuly3on the500
blockofMagnolia requiredhelp
fromWestland andGardenCity.
The fastmoving fire in areas
used for storagemade the fire-
fighters' jobsdifficult,Hubbard
said, and reports that a victim
couldbe trapped insidenecessi-
tateda forcedentry.DTEhad to
cut power to the garage and
home,he said, as itpresented a
seriousriskat thescene.Hesaid
that fortunately no one was
injured.
Another dramatic call took
placeJuly13onthe29300areaof
Kitch.Firefightersagain founda
fullyengulfedgaragewithavehi-
cle insideandpower linesdown
nexttothestructure.
Again,DTEhadtobecalledto
mitigate thedownedwireswhile
firefighters brought the blaze
undercontrol.Hubbardsaid that
structuresawmajordamage.
Thosewere only two of the
many calls the departmenthas
receivedduring thepastmonth,
Hubbardsaid,but thesepresent-
ed special problemswith the
downedelectricalwires.
InksterFireChiefChuckHubbard.
Photosubmitted
Inkster firefighters forced entry into a structure during a serious fire
July3on the500blockofMagnolia.
Inkster firefighters battled at
garage fire in the 29300blockof
KitchJuly13.
