Brownstown Hires Four New Firefighters

Four in one fell swoop....so there ARE jobs out there, huh? And three of the four new-hires are Scraft hard-cases.....what does THAT tell you????

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BROWNSTOWN TWP. — Four full-time firefighters/paramedics were introduced to the township Board of Trustees on Monday, increasing the number of firefighters in the department to 27.

James Sclater, director of public safety, said the department has been short-staffed for quite some time, resulting in budget-busting overtime problems.

Sclater said that adding the firefighters should help eliminate those issues.

Joining the department are Robert Campeau, Brandon Craft, Mark Sanfilippo and Shane Wilde.

Campeau, 24, is a township resident. He and his wife, Lindsey, are expecting a baby in January.

Campeau is a graduate of Southgate Anderson High School. He graduated from the Michigan Academy of Emergency Services and completed the Fire Academy program at Schoolcraft College.

He worked as a full-time firefighter in the Rouge Complex Fire Department in Dearborn and part time with the Riverview Fire Department.

Craft, 22, was born and raised in Garden City.

He is a graduate of Garden City High School and earned an associate degree in fire science from Schoolcraft. Craft is a licensed paramedic and worked for Huron Valley Ambulance and Rapid Response EMS as a paramedic. He is an assistant coach with the Garden City High School varsity boys’ basketball team.

Sanfilippo, 24, is a graduate of Trenton High School and lives in Woodhaven.

He also attended the Fire Academy at Schoolcraft. Sanfilippo worked as a firefighter/paramedic with the Woodhaven Fire Department for more than three years.

Wilde, 27, has lived in the township for 10 years. He is a graduate of Woodhaven High School and attended Wayne County Community College District for fire school and the Michigan Academy of Emergency Services for paramedic school.

He worked as a full-time and paid-on-call firefighter in Huron Township for about three years.

Sclater said the number of calls for service has increased, and he is happy to have the additional firefighters.

“We’re getting about 14 calls a day,” Sclater said.

Recent fire runs have involved kitchen and car fires and miscellaneous structure fires.

He said that the time spent on fire runs can be lengthy, and it is good to have the additional staff to handle the calls.