Milan Area Fire Department Chief Retires after 40 years

Fire Chief Robert Stevens lived just down the street from the Old Milan Fire Barn growing up. He recalls his excitement every time he heard the siren go off. 

That feeling never went away for Stevens—though he stepped down April 30, after working at the fire department for more than 40 years.

“I knew it was time,” said Stevens, the longest-serving head of the Milan Area Fire Department.

Known as a quiet leader who gets along with others and creates a positive work culture, Stevens directed fire coverage for Milan City, York Township, Milan Township and London Township for the past 18 years. He oversaw 28 part-time staff, all paid on-call. He also served as fire chief for three years earlier in his career before resigning because he needed more time for his full-time job at Ford and his family.

Stevens started as a firefighter at the invitation of then-chief Dale Heath and steadily rose in the ranks. 

“Well, as the years progressed—maybe 4-5 years in I became a lieutenant and progressed up the ladder from there—went through lieutenant, captain, assistant chief,” Stevens recalls.

“Just love the job,” he added.

Legacy:

During his tenure, Stevens modernized equipment and the station, moving from providing on-call coverage to having daytime staffing, improving response times. 

Stevens was a “hands-on fire chief,” said Fire Board Chair Penny Turner, who has known ‘Bob’ since she worked as a dispatcher 35 years ago.

“I’ve nothing bad to say about him,” said Turner, who is also London Township’s Supervisor. “He’s done really good. He’s done quite a bit for that department over the years.”

Milan Mayor Ed Kolar, who has also served on the Fire Board with Stevens, said public safety was always the goal, with a community budget working against them. 

“Chief Stevens worked very hard on grant funding to assist the municipalities with our budgets,” Kolar said.

York Township Supervisor Chuck Tellas noted Stevens’ commitment to public service.

“He’s not concerned about the status of the position or anything like that,” Tellas said. “He just works really well with people. People really respect him and he’s built a good force.”

Successor

In January, Stevens recommended his assistant chief DJ Carpus to the Milan Area Fire Board as his successor.

“He’s up-to-date and up-to-speed on how we operate,” Stevens said.

Carpus, whose parents are both firefighters at the station as well, and whose brother is a full-time firefighter for Ypsilanti, said he always knew he wanted to be a firefighter. 

His full-time job is at Chrysler as a maintenance machine repairman, something that’s given him good mechanical understanding, which helps at the station, too.

Tellas describes Carpus as attentive to detail and self-motived.

“You give him a task and it’s done,” Tellas said. “He has the respect of his fellow firefighters and certainly Bob has confidence in him.”

Under Stevens’ tutelage, Carpus said he learned good management.

“He’s a great example of being level-headed, making rational decisions,” Carpus said.

Carpus took over May 1, but has no big changes planned.

“He set us off in a great direction and I’m going to continue on with that,” Carpus said.