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Fire Chief Dustin Alice: 2025 saw 6,378 incidents; EMS made up 78% of calls
Summary
South Shore Fire Department presented its 2025 annual report: 6,378 incidents, 4,986 EMS runs (about 78%), three Mount Pleasant stations, roughly 90 open permits, and expanded training. The board praised the service and emphasized continued budget support.
Fire Chief Dustin Alice told the Village of Mount Pleasant board on May 11 that the South Shore Fire Department answered 6,378 total incidents in 2025, of which 4,986 were emergency medical service calls, roughly 78% of the department's volume.
The report, presented as the first of two public-safety briefings, noted the department was authorized for 68 full-time positions in 2025 and authorized up to 69 in 2026 (including a newly hired fire inspector). The department covers about 38 square miles and an estimated 34,000 residents across Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant and operates three stations in Mount Pleasant and one in Sturtevant, Chief Alice said.
The chief outlined the department's apparatus and activity: three engines, two ladder trucks, four primary medical units plus two secondary med units, two wildland vehicles, one special-operations vehicle, and a boat. Building fires, vehicle accidents, alarm responses and other calls were itemized in the report; Chief Alice said the department recorded 37 building fires, 333 vehicle accidents, 406 fire alarms and 271 miscellaneous responses in 2025.
Chief Alice described community risk reduction work and permitting: the bureau typically manages 80–100 open permits and was at roughly 90 at the time of the report, driven by local growth. The department listed 1,119 inspectable properties on its inspection roster and reported about 95 hours of public-education activity in 2025 (school visits, station tours and community events). On training, the department logged a total of 8,616 combined hours across fire and EMS training, apparatus checks and equipment work.
Board members praised the report and underscored the budget implications. "With the increase in volume and calls, I think it is very important for our residents to understand why we spend a lot of time in the budget on police and fire," one trustee said, adding the figures help justify continued equipment and staffing support. Chief Alice said the department will continue to monitor growth and service delivery and welcomed further questions or follow-up outside the meeting.
The presentation produced no formal board action; the board moved on to the police report afterward.
