(Community Matters 184) A Talk with Battle Creek's New Fire Chief

Battle Creek’s new Fire Chief Bush McCarthy talks to Community Matters about what he thinks about leadership, service, and the real work behind the sirens. He breaks down what the department responds to most, why new fire station upgrades matter, and what every household can do today to be safer.

Episode Resources

Battle Creek Fire Department Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Listen

Richard Piet 0:02

This is Community Matters. It's a visit with you from Battle Creek in Calhoun County on Saturday mornings at 95.3 FM or at Battle Creek Podcast.com. In fact, our episodes are all there. So if uh, you know, you've been off on spring break or something and came back and said, Oh, gee, I wonder what I missed, you can go there, number one, or you can search where you get podcasts, Community Matters Calhoun County, and then just follow us. And you'll get alerted, even if you're on the beach in St. Pete or something, uh, you can hear us there too. So recently we heard about a couple of changes in administration in Battle Creek, not the least of which was the uh assistant city manager uh discussion, a change there with Ted Deering's retirement and Marcy Gillette stepping up. In fact, we have an episode of the BC City Connection podcast that's now available at uh battle creekpodcast.com, among other places, so you can hear our discussion with the both of them. Part of that announcement also included the announcement of a new fire chief in Battle Creek. Bush McCarthy has been with the fire department in Battle Creek since 2008 and has been a battalion chief until assuming this new position, and he joins us today. Hello, chief. Good morning. How are you, Richard? Great, thanks for this uh opportunity. Boy, uh, talk about uh a chance to uh step up. This is it, huh?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

It's exciting. Um uh a great opportunity here with uh high expectations, and I'm looking forward to it.

Richard Piet 1:31

What does it mean to be a chief to you as you contemplated this opportunity? What crossed your mind? What does it mean?

The 9-11 Moment That Shifted

SPEAKER_01 1:39

You know, like you said, I I started in the fire service, went to the fire academy back in 2006, and you know, I've learned a lot uh over the last 20 years in the fire service. And you know, I never thought I would get to the point that I am now looking back. I could see I had great um mentors. Um, I think you can learn a lot from the good and the bad, and I think that has helped me get to this point. Again, I didn't ever think I would be the fire chief of the Battle Creek Fire Department. Um at now, now obviously 18 years in, I've got a very vested interest in the success and where the department goes. But you know, the vision that we've had recently just hasn't been communicated well. So I I hope I can really kind of step up and make sure we have a good strategic plan in place of of where we want to go, how it benefits the community, how we can really improve our services um for Battle Creek and actually the whole metro area. We're you know, we're the largest department in the metro, Battle Creek, Calhoun County area. Um, and we have a lot of things we can help the big community with.

Richard Piet 2:42

Yeah, I certainly want to talk about that more. One thing that pops in my mind is the notion of being a firefighter has sometimes been described as a calling. Did you see it that way? Was it that way for you?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

You know, I always, as a kid, I always I loved uh, you know, seeing a fire truck lights and sirens, the queue just spinning up, running by. And, you know, I most kids probably like that because it's intriguing. You know, what where are they going to? What are they doing? You know, are they saving lives? That's probably what they're doing. They always save lives. That's what they do. That's there's nothing else besides just saving lives. It wasn't until I was in uh my freshman year of college when 9-11 happened, and that was kind of a big turning point for me of knowing I needed to do a little bit more. I always knew I wasn't a desk person anyway. Turns out I I am back at a desk, but we're years later at this point now. That's where it started was 9-11. I was like, I've got to do something besides sit behind a desk. And I had a few friends that were involved in the fire service. Um, and so once I finished up college, I stayed up here in Michigan and uh went through uh fire academy.

Richard Piet 3:48

Boy, you're not alone in that, right? There were a lot of folks, whether it was, you know, on the day and the response that immediately happened that motivated people to want to help, but also thereafter, having seen uh the dedication of the the responders on 9-11 that epiphanies took place about career decisions, it sounds like that's what happened to you.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, I had no idea where that would lead me. You know, you it's one step at a time, and I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go to the fire academy. And then you got to pass the fire academy, and then what's the next thing? Find a department to get on to. And so, you know, slow steps at a time, and you know, have have got me to this point. But yeah, that's what really was. I had to make a difference. I needed to and wanted to make a difference, and that's kind of where the whole thing started.

Richard Piet 4:34

Yeah, boy, that description really went around the gamut of the significant factors of being a firefighter. You talked about sort of the romance of it, the sirens and the lights and the impression that it makes on all people, not just young people, but a lot of us recognize what you're up to. And that's the other side of it, right? That this is serious business and it has uh the life-saving potential built into it, from which I presume you you get uh some kind of a motivation and a reward. Is that true?

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you can talk to any fireman you in we've trained to put fires out, and we do um, I think, exceptionally well here in Battle Creek of trying to give different scenarios of what we could run into and learning from people that came before us and them showing us or teaching us things they've learned firsthand. So maybe we don't have to learn the same lesson. That's what we were trained to do is put out fires. That's not obviously the majority of our calls now, but that is the that's the higher risk stuff, and that's where we really got to put our money into and our and our and all of our work ethic is into those high-risk scenarios that you know are fires. As much as we we don't fight as fire as we used to, even from when I started till now, but those are the high risk things we have to do. But those are bad days for some people, but those are what we look forward to. Unfortunately, it sounds a little unnerving to some people, but that's what we've trained to do, and that's what our career is based on is saving people from those bad scenarios.

Medical Calls And Special Response Teams

Richard Piet 6:04

Well, I suppose it's a good thing, but the majority of your calls are not that. What is the majority? What do you respond to most?

SPEAKER_01 6:11

So, you know, the fire service has switched over the last 30 years from being, you know, primarily just fire-based car accidents, those sort of things, to obviously taking on some more of the medical role where us in Battle Creek they're called medical first responders. Or, and so that's kind of where we are, where we respond to um any life-threatening emergencies as well as an ambulance um when it comes to the medical side of it. So like chest pains, difficulty breathings, you know, those are those are a lot of our calls. So that rounds about 70 to 75% of our calls. And that, you know, again, those numbers have changed and those numbers just keep going up and up. Uh, we've almost doubled our run volume since I started in 2008, which is hard to believe. And by run volume, the calls that come in between fires and medicals all combined. You know, when we have the fire alarms, car accidents, hazardous materials. There's we're part of a couple of statewide teams that uh respond to hazardous materials. So our team can deploy anywhere in the state for hazardous materials. We have another team that's set up for in the city operations. Our technical rescue team actually today they're out at the uh wastewater treatment plant practicing their skills, but they're also part of the 5th district, which covers all of Southwest Michigan. So, for instance, a couple weeks ago when the tornadoes went through, or a few weeks ago when the tornadoes went through, we put our team together and they met up with the rest of the 5th district to go help for search and rescue efforts down um right after the tornado within an hour or so of that. So there's a big variation.

Richard Piet 7:42

Yeah, that's an important part of it too. It's not just our city, for example. You may be called up to be part of a larger response effort, and that's a great example of that. So you got to be ready to do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, absolutely. And we've um we've built those teams. Those teams started back, I want to say 2014, 2015, and we've put we've got a great group of people that are dedicated to leading those teams. Um, a lot of our captains will lead those teams in getting them to the best trainings we can get them to. There is a wide variety, and that's changed in the fire service also of things. It's again, it's just not fires anymore. It's anywhere we can be of assistance, is kind of where it's lead led to.

Richard Piet 8:21

Well, and that explains for many of us why we might see a fire truck somewhere, and there's not necessarily a fire that's happening. There's other response happening, but the truck is there.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

There's a lot of things, and we have kind of come down to the default, you know, the old saying of the cat in the tree and they're gonna go rescue it. Like it's who else do you call? Your basement's flooding after a pipe breaking. You don't just call the plumber, you're gonna call the fire department first. Um, so we've absorbed a lot of those calls. Uh, that's just I'm not encouraging people to do that, but you know, that's the fire department's there always that's the mentality is we're here to help and help mitigate what we can. But yeah, we're the default for a lot of things.

Richard Piet 9:03

Yeah. I was just gonna bring up the cat in the tree thing. Does that really happen?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

I've never got a cat out of a tree before. I've seen a cat um down in like sewers, but uh never a cat in a tree.

Richard Piet 9:15

Okay, but sometimes they're in other places and you get the call for which we're grateful. So talk about uh as you thought about the future of the Battle Creek Fire Department. What comes to mind? I mean, you know, the new buildings have to be on your mind, uh, but maybe there are other things too.

New Stations And Better Deployment

SPEAKER_01 9:34

I'm super encouraged right now. You know, the commission has realized that we we need some improvement on our infrastructure on the fire department side. We have a couple of stations that were built in 1902 and 1903, 47, 68, 70. So we have some really 74, so we have some really old buildings. Um, when they talk about fire departments and buildings, they usually talk about them lasting about 50 years. Um, and so obviously, all of our buildings are over 50 years. Not to throw blame at people that weren't here in the past from the commission from the city side, but we just we've got to play catch up. That's it. We have a commission that recognized that, and it's awesome that they approved a bond for us. So we've got a new station two that's gonna be going up, which will be up in Washington Heights. We've got a new station three that'll be going up um in post-edition. Actually, they just started clearing trees out um for the post-edition fire station this week, which is huge. Uh, we're gonna do we had some improvements done down here at station one on the roof, and then there'll be some other major construction down at station six, same location, but just some major improvements down there, also. So it's super encouraging. I know um it's a it's a lot of money that we're we're putting into these projects. I think a lot of good things can come out of it. I think it'll make a difference for our response to the public. Assets can be kind of deployed right now. We everything gets housed down here at station one because it's a big station where they probably should be allocated to some of the other stations for better deployment models. And I think that'll really help with responses to the community. And then, you know, just general living conditions. If you walk into, you know, things have changed. This used to be a male-dominated field, and now we have um a lot of females that are in the fire service in general, and the facilities just aren't set up that way. There's there's one big bathroom, there's one locker room, there's one shower stall. So a lot of these improvements will help kind of bring us up to the changing environment and and having females and as well as just kind of privacy in general. They've as much as we all like the big bunk rooms and and in poles that go downstairs, things have just changed, and we just we're a little behind on adapting to them.

Richard Piet 11:46

Well, that's another one of the things that's right up there with a cat in the tree is sliding down the pole. Does that still happen?

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Oh, absolutely. Uh, down here at station one, we've got two poles still in use, um, I would say almost on a daily basis. And then uh station two up in the heights um has a pole not used as much, but it is it's still there and it can be used. Yeah, the fire service has kind of gotten away from poles. I've noticed some of the newer stations have put slides in, which would be a lot of fun also. Um, but you know, the classic brass pole, yeah, we've still got them down here at station one. And as far as I'm around, I want to maintain those poles just for the historical sake of it. And to fire stations got to have a pole.

Richard Piet 12:28

You know, you might be inclined to say, does that really save time? But if you think about it, if you're responding to a call, nobody wants to trip and fall down the stairs on the way to the garage, right? So uh the pole makes it a lot faster and probably safer.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Especially for us here down at station one where the pole is located in uh the bedroom, especially in the middle of the night, where instead of, like you said, you're half asleep, the tones just went off, the lights are on, you're still wiping the sleep out of your eyes, and now you've got a whole flight of stairs to go down. Yeah, the pole definitely um, you know, and there's some safety features on the pole, so you're not just gonna trip and fall and go fall down this hole. But yeah, definitely sliding the pole is definitely a little quicker.

Hiring Rules And Recruiting Success

Richard Piet 13:09

Makes sense. What about staffing? You talked about uh now how gender representation has changed in in uh firefighting. Are we still looking at challenges finding new firefighters in the pipeline to a career?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

So this last round, so we're under a public safety. There's a public act that we're under. Under the public act, we've got to have certain testing that's got to be done. Um, so it really kind of got away from the good old boy system of hiring your friends. Uh it was adapted, I want to say maybe back in the 60s or 70s, that the city of Battle Creek, the actual residents adopted it. But um, so we have a couple of different hoops to jump through as far as there's testing, there's a physical agility, sure, and there's an interview process. The last round before this one that we're currently in, we we did we struggled a lot. I think we had 16 people on a list. Um, not very many applied even to get down to that list after all was said and done. This last round that we did in 2025, um, we had over 200 applicants. And then kind of each step, you almost cut off about 50%. So, you know, there's people that aren't going to show up, they're gonna take their application out, and then we do the initial is a a written test, which has you don't have to have any fire background. All the information you need is it's a reading comprehension on a lot of it, and uh, so you need no fire background to get involved, just kind of interested in in the career field. So that initial testing, you usually lose somewhere around 40-50 percent of people from that one also for the passing test score. And then there's a physical agility test that we put on also. So you put on a weighted vest, you do some stair climbing for a few minutes, and then there's some other tasks you do with the weighted vest on. But after all, and then there's an interview process, and then everybody's ranked um depending on your scores. But so we ended up with I think 38 people on this last list, which is awesome compared to the last few years. Um, yeah. And in we're in a uh um hiring cycle right now where we've got um eight probationaries right now. We're looking to have another six start in May, um, mostly all due to retirements. People have left, and so we're just replacing some of those people right now. But yeah, it's it's we're trying to get better at some of our recruitment. I think we're good at it, we're not great at it. So we've done a really good job, I think, this last year of getting our name out. And it's it's tough when we we're under the the Civil Service Act, that's what it's called, how it came to me. Um, under the Civil Service Act that we test every two years. So it's not just kind of an open application period. So it's kind of keeping people interested and putting you can put your application in at any time, and then you know it'll eventually open up. So in about a year, uh we'll be doing another round of testing.

Richard Piet 15:56

Well, it's encouraging though that you had so many applicants, and it makes sense that, of course, that'll get whittled down. Uh, but there seems to be an interest, and there seems to be uh a fair amount of folks who are stepping up and saying, I'd like that as a career.

Fit For The Job And Family Life

SPEAKER_01 16:13

I think it's won the career, and I think our culture around here has shifted the last couple of years here at Battle Creek, and I think we've got um a good reputation. We we send our people to a lot of different trainings. A lot of our people are the ones that are out there doing the actual trainings for other departments, and so our name gets out there quite a bit. And when they start seeing um the people that we have working for that have, you know, progressed through their careers here in Battle Creek, and they start seeing what we're all about here and putting community first, but a lot into training and a lot into building the individuals, I think the application pool will get bigger. I'm hoping it will.

Richard Piet 16:48

Yeah. And let's talk to somebody right now who's contemplating this career, but maybe they aren't quite sure yet that this is the career that's for them. How do you help them think about that? What would you say?

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Our schedule's just different. So there's some people that want a Monday through Friday job and have the weekends off because of whatever reason that they're involved in, where we work 24 hours on and then 48 hours off. So you're working two or three days a week, but you're gone for 24 hours at a time. Yeah. I'm married and got a couple of little girls. So there's I've missed birthdays, I've missed Christmas, I've missed Thanksgivings. And so that's one hurdle people have to understand uh that the schedule's different, and that's not a normal schedule, that you're gone for 24 hours at a time. So if somebody can wrap their head around that portion of it also, because that is a big portion that you you're living somewhere else for those 24 hours. You know, there's other variations as far as you know, can you handle the weight? You know, all the gear, the heat when it's even when you're just walking around, you start sweating before you go into the fire just because of the amount of weight and the way the gear is set up. So yeah, um, there's some of those things that are good. Like if people are interested in it, we don't have anything formal set up with that besides when we come around to our October uh with fire prevention. But that's one thing that you know people have to wrap their head around too is it's a very physical job. You have to be in shape for it, and you don't have to be this giant farmer that's strong and can throw everything around, but you do have to be able to put on gear and and function in it. How much weight is that? Once you get your your gear on, we have an air pack that goes on also. You get some tools in your hands, you could be upwards of 75 to 80 pounds in addition to your weight. Oh, and then expect it to work.

Richard Piet 18:38

Yeah. It's like carrying around a German Shepherd on your back or something.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Right. Yeah. Um, and you eventually, you know, a lot of those through all the trainings and going to the fire academy, you get used to the weight, right? You adapt, your body adapts to it. You know, if you were to go put 80 pounds on right now, you'd be like, Oh, I can't even move in this. But you know, give us six months and and you'll be like, all right, I can do this. Yeah. Like we can we can make that happen.

Richard Piet 19:02

And the other side of you were very frank and and upfront about talking about those, I don't know if I want to say concessions that you make in this career, but also there's uh you get that reward out of it too. And that's part of the uh the thinking that goes on, I presume.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah, absolutely. There's definitely a a part there where you're the person people are calling to help, and that's it's very rewarding. When whatever capacity that is, someone's put their trust in you to come fix or help mitigate whatever has happened to them. Yeah, it's a big portion of it.

Smoke Detectors And Emergency Plans

Richard Piet 19:34

Well, there you have it. Uh let that sink in if you're uh considering a career in firefighting or maybe even just sitting back on a Saturday morning listening to us talk to the new fire chief in Battle Creek. It's impressive to listen to those uh sentiments. Congratulations on uh on the appointment, and I'm sure we're gonna stay in touch. And I would imagine before we go, there's a chance for you to say something about smoke detectors and having a plan and those things that people should be thinking about, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah, absolutely. Here with uh residents of Battle Creek, we'll install uh smoke detectors and uh CO alarms also. And like you said, uh everybody should have somewhat of a plan if something does happen of how to keep track of your family, how to keep track of your pets when something does happen, whether that's a tornado or a fire or a flood, have a plan, have something, have a conversation. You don't have to write down this plan, but have a conversation about it. So everybody's kind of got it in the back of their mind.

Richard Piet 20:33

And they know where to go. If uh if you were to become separated, there should be a meeting spot outside, right? So that should be discussed. Absolutely. Yep. And as you you heard the chief say, uh, if you need help getting smoke detectors, they'll help you get them and they'll help you put them in. So click through from the show notes with this episode at battlecreekpodcast.com to the fire department website in Battle Creek if that's something you need, and they'll help you figure it out. Battle Creek Fire Chief Bush McCarthy on the job now in the top spot at the Battle Creek Fire Department. Thank you for meeting with us.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Thank you, Richard. I look forward to doing this again.