Delta Township’s firefighters union calls the department “negligently understaffed.” The chief says 25 responders reached Monday’s fire

DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Delta Township’s firefighters union says the township has left its fire department “negligently understaffed,” and the fire chief is pushing back, while conceding the department is short of people.

In a Tuesday morning Facebook post, IAFF Local 2846 said only three fully dressed firefighters, two apparatus operators and a battalion chief were available to respond to a mobile home fire on Monday, WLNS reported. “That’s what we could bring to a working fire. And then hoped our mutual aid partners were in house and nothing went sideways,” the union wrote, according to the station.

The union also said the department relies on overtime to meet daily staffing and asks company officers to do their own jobs plus those of one or two more firefighters on every call. “Throwing our hands up and saying it’s too hard to find quality applicants isn’t a plan,” it wrote.

Fire Chief John Kahler told WLNS the post doesn’t accurately reflect the department. He said 25 people, including himself, ended up on scene at Monday’s fire. WLNS did not report how many of them came from neighboring departments. Kahler acknowledged a staffing shortage and blamed shrinking state funding, which he said has made public safety staffing hard for local governments everywhere.

“There’s only so much budget to go around,” Kahler said. “And we’re not the only folks around that, you know, are having issues. Most places around us are short people.” He said the department has applied two years in a row for a federal grant to hire six more firefighters and was turned down both times. It is now trying to fill two openings and has more than 40 applicants.

The staffing math. The township’s own fire department page lists 45 career firefighters: three battalion chiefs, nine captains, nine engineers and 24 firefighters, plus five administrators and some part-time staff. It says all three stations are staffed around the clock: Station 1 at 811 N. Canal Road, Station 2 at 7720 W. Grand River Highway and Station 3 at 215 Snow Road. The department also runs a transporting ambulance service.

The township does not publish its shift schedule. But three battalion chiefs and nine captains fit the three-platoon system most career departments use. If the 45 are split evenly that way, each 24-hour shift would have about 15 people for three stations and the ambulances, before vacations, sick days, training and open positions. That works out to about five people per station, including ambulance crews, on a fully staffed day.

This has happened before. In 2017, the department won a $916,115 federal SAFER grant to hire six firefighters, which then-Chief John Clark said would put two more people on duty every shift. Clark said the three stations had answered more than 7,000 calls the year before. In 2022, MSU’s Spartan Newsroom reported the department was eight people short and that two of its three stations had closed several times because of staffing.

Who pays. Delta Township expects to spend about $8.54 million on police, fire and ambulance in 2026, out of a $21.7 million general fund, according to a January analysis of the budget by the local outlet Delta Unfiltered. Fire and ambulance are paid for mainly through the township’s paramedic millage and service fees. The 2026 budget included contractual raises for union firefighters, and it put off interior improvements at Fire Station No. 1.

Kahler was named permanent chief in February after serving as interim chief since August 2025, Delta Unfiltered reported.

What this means for residents. Nothing changes about calling 911. Neighboring departments back each other up through mutual aid, as both sides noted. The staffing question will come down to money the township board controls, and residents can raise it during public comment at township board meetings, listed at deltami.gov. The fire department also offers free smoke alarm checks and installation and home fire safety checks, according to the township. Earlier, The Mitten Daily reported on the township’s new senior center.

Sources:
WLNS, “Delta Township fire chief pushes back on understaffing claims,” Oct. 21, 2026 (union post as quoted by WLNS, Kahler interview, grant and hiring figures), https://www.wlns.com/lansing/delta-township-fire-chief-pushes-back-on-understaffing-claims/
Delta Township Fire Department, “About Our Department” (staff count, stations, services), https://www.deltami.gov/departments/fire/about_our_department.php
Sen. Gary Peters, news release, July 21, 2017 (SAFER grant, call volume), https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/peters-stabenow-announce-over-910000-in-support-of-delta-township-fire-department
Spartan Newsroom (Michigan State University), March 2022 (staff shortage, station closures), https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2022/03/delta-township-fire-department-faces-ongoing-staff-shortage/
Delta Unfiltered, “New Year, New Budget,” Jan. 5, 2026 (2026 budget figures), https://deltaunfiltered.substack.com/p/new-year-new-budget-how-delta-townships; and “Delta Township Names John Kahler Permanent Fire Chief,” Feb. 26, 2026, https://deltaunfiltered.substack.com/p/delta-township-names-john-kahler
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsfield_Township_Fire_Station_No._2_with_Vehicles.JPG

Delta Township

Tags: Delta Township · Fire Department · Public Safety · Firefighters · Taxpayers · Eaton County