IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) – Recent insights from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) shed light on the holiday risks posed by candles. According to NFPA, nearly half of December home decoration fires are ignited by candles. Christmas, in particular, stands out as the peak day for candle-related incidents, with over 1 in 5 Christmas tree fires traced back to a heat source too close to the tree. The NFPA recommends using battery-operated flameless candles and keeping at least 3 feet of distance between Christmas trees and heaters or heat vents.
Offering crucial safety advice, Fire Inspector Alix Loker of the Iron Mountain Fire Department emphasized precautions beyond candles. Loker highlighted the city’s vulnerability to chimney fires, often sparked by neglected chimney cleaning when people start using furnaces and stoves. She emphasized the significance of watering real trees as much as possible to prevent them from drying out, and cautioned against overloading extension cords when putting up holiday lights.
“If you do have a real tree, please try to water it as much as possible and keep it from drying out, because we have heard about that happening all over the place. But the big one that we see in our city is chimney fires. When people start lighting their furnaces and stoves and everything, and they forget to clean out their chimneys for the year. And it will start on fire in the chimney,” Loker stated.
Amidst these safety recommendations, Loker revealed a pressing issue—staffing shortages within the Iron Mountain City Fire Department. With only 7 part-time firefighters, compared to 15 a decade ago, the department grapples with coverage challenges. Many full-timers bear the burden of extensive overtime, prompting an urgent call for community support in recruiting additional personnel.
Detailing the strain on existing staff, Loker explained, “I’m on for 24 hours. I typically have 48 hours [off] before I come in for my next normal shift. A lot of us have been working 24 to 48 hours of overtime every week here, us full-timers, because the part-timers don’t always pull all the hours either. It’s really, really flexible for them so if you were looking for a flexible career, and we can kind of train you in everything. We offer classes and everything.”
Despite recent equipment upgrades, Loker stressed the dire need for more hands on deck. The Fire Department actively seeks part-time firefighters and plans to conduct training in January, with Loker encouraging interested individuals to reach out to the department.
“Most of the classes are put on by Breitung Township fire department. We help out with teaching and everything. They run them twice a year, so typically starting sometime in January– February, and then another one later summer. And if anybody needed any information they can always call us, and we can direct them towards it,” informed Loker, adding, “It’s county-based, so Dickinson county puts it on. We partner with Breitung Township and do these classes together. We have talked about doing just an Academy here at this fire station to put people just who want to work through Iron Mountain Fire Department, and put on like a one month longer Academy just to fast-forward the process and get you working here. We’ve talked about that, we just didn’t have a lot of interest at the time,” explained Loker.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but there is college for firefighters. You can go and get either a two or four year degree. I recommend 2-year. It’s a little easier, a little cheaper, but you get great schooling out of it. If you didn’t want to do that route, and you wanted to do more of the one or two classes, we run a fire I and II – is what it’s called, which is your basic entry-level fire training, and that’s about a 5-month program… a little test at the end, and a lot of times your departments will pay for that because [surrounding areas like Breitung Township and Sagola] are really hurting for volunteer firefighters as well, so everybody’s always looking to set up some more classes and really get people through it,” she informed.
Addressing emergency services, Loker expressed the department’s exploration of expanding services to include ambulance transport. Seeking community input on this potential addition, she conveyed the department’s interest in broadening its medical assistance beyond the existing first responder role.
“OK, so we have been running EMS at our department as well, just on a first responder basis. We don’t transport or anything, but we would love to know from the community if that would be a service that they would like us to provide in the future, like moving towards and having an ambulance here in this building, and transporting to the hospital for the citizens of Iron Mountain,” revealed Loker.
“It would be all medical, so what we actually do here is we run all the fire calls and emergencies [like] car accidents, but we actually run any 911 medical emergencies as well. We do all of those, so if you cut your leg – whatever it might be – any level of emergency. We actually respond to that, and we provide first aid right now, and then we wait for Integrity EMS. Integrity is the EMS provider. Then we wait for them to do the actual transport,” Loker stated.
Loker shared insights into the department’s current EMS responsibilities, responding to all 911 medical emergencies and offering initial aid until Integrity EMS takes over for transport. Highlighting the need for more paramedics, she disclosed that the majority of the team holds EMT basic certification—a qualification the department is willing to provide through the Academy.
The Iron Mountain Fire Department remains committed to serving the community while actively seeking new recruits.
