Combined Township Fire Authority Up and Running In Wexford Co.

Fire services are up and running smoothly in Wexford County after three local fire departments combined recently.

That’s the word from the new fire chief, Michael Guernsey, of the Northwest Wexford Emergency Authority.

The new entity combined the fire departments for Buckley, Mesick and Springville Township last month.

The joint effort provides fire and emergency services to Antioch, Hanover and Springville Townships and the Northwest corner of Wexford Township.

Guernsey is the former fire chief of Buckley’s Volunteer Fire Department. He said they were forced to shut down Buckley’s EMS services last year because they missed more than 20% of their calls because of a lack of volunteers and funding.

“So we actually rolled out with fire side of it…. roughly 10 days ago. So, so far it’s been going good. We’ve had a couple of fire so far it’s been going good. We’ve had a couple of fires, some car accidents. So we’ve been busy. It’s been a good merger so far. Everybody’s getting along,” said Guernsey.

Guernsey says they hope to have ambulance services up by June 1.

The new fire authority is expected to help with staffing shortages and increase response times.