Fire/Rescue

Personnel from fire departments in Sturgis and across the county are in mourning after learning Monday about the weekend passing of Ladd Carpenter, Sturgis assistant fire chief. A 45-person search for Carpenter’s body was staged Sunday morning after the 55-year-old Sturgis Fire Department veteran failed to show up for an early shift Sunday. Undersheriff Mark Lillywhite said searchers focused their …

A 74-year-old Elkhart County man was charged with arson following an incident Friday evening in White Pigeon Township. According to the Michigan State Police, the man allegedly set fire to a rental unit in which he was residing, in the 71000 block of Aldrich Lake Road. There were no injuries and no other adjacent structures were damaged by fire, heat, …

Divers from the Michigan State Police recovery unit had no success in a search Thursday for locating the remains of Venus Stewart. Acting on a tip, divers spent the morning searching a stretch of the St. Joseph River in Colon Township, adjacent to her parents’ residence on Driftwood Drive. A cadaver K-9 helped pinpoint an area to search, but divers …

The process aimed at sustainable and more equitable funding for the Three Rivers Fire Department (TRFD) Ambulance Service continued to move forward Thursday evening (July 26) with the latest ‘Community Development Meeting’ (CDM) of officials from the City of Three Rivers and Fabius, Lockport and Park townships. City officials presented draft agreements between the city and each of the townships …

The City of Three Rivers has rescinded the burn ban declared on June 27. That’s the word from Fire Chief Dan Tomlinson of the Three Rivers Fire Department (TRFD) who said, “Surface weather data has finally fallen below high-risk levels.” In announcing the lifting of the ban on burning, Tomlinson noted the city’s household burning ordinance and said the fine …

The Colon Community Fire and Rescue Department has announced a new fire chief and rescue captain. Board members of the fire-and-rescue agency said Matt Overholt will serve as chief. He succeeds Tim Doenges, who resigned after a 13-year tenure due to family reasons. Overholt was selected last week from a field of three applicants. Meanwhile, Todd Wadsworth was named the …

A lightning strike was blamed for causing a fire at an apartment complex early Saturday evening at Westchase Apartments on Hill Street. Three Rivers fire fighters found the fire in the attic space of the east wing. One apartment unit sustained moderate damage when crews were forced to pull the ceiling down to locate the fire. Fire and smoke damage …

A house in Sherman Township sustained heavy smoke damage as the result of a fire that occurred around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Personnel from the Centreville and Tri-Township fire departments were called to the 64000 block of Shimmel Road, where they found heavy smoke emitting from the roofline of the single-family residence. Firefighters entered the residence and found it was unoccupied. …

Investigators looking into the cause of a house fire in Sherman Township last week indicated faulty wiring in an air conditioner was the likely cause of the blaze. The residence, in the 62000 block of Shimmel Road, was destroyed by the fast-moving fire. Investigators said they suspect a wiring malfunction in an air-conditioning unit attached on the first floor caused …

A grass fire Sunday afternoon was the seventh within a week in the county. Crews from the Fabius-Park Townships Fire Department were quickly able to extinguish the weekend blaze, which covered a small area near North Fisher Lake Road. During the Fourth of July period last week, grass fires were extinguished by the department. Agency officials said fireworks were responsible …