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Throughout the 19th century and well into the 1920s, the Mount Clemens Fire Department handled firefighting in Harrison Township. In 1929, the Harrison Township Board of Trustees voted to purchase its first fire apparatus for the sole purpose of protecting the residents of Harrison Township.

In the spring of 1930, a state-of-the-art Ahrens Fox 750-GPM fire engine was delivered to the Mt. Clemens Fire Department in care of Harrison Township. The Ahrens Fox was housed at the Mt. Clemens fire station and responded to Harrison Township’s fires with two firefighters. These men would enlist the help of neighbors and bystanders to help fight fires. In 1944, a group of Harrison Township citizens got together and decided to form a group of organized volunteers to train in firefighting. In 1945, the Harrison Township Board officially accepted this group as the Harrison Township Fire Department (HTFD). 

The agreement with the City of Mt. Clemens continued until construction of Harrison Township’s first fire station was approved in 1949. The station, which was built next to the township offices, opened on June 1st of the same year. It housed one fire engine until 1953 when HTFD purchased a brand-new Peter Pirsch pumper. In the 1956, the Ahrens Fox was retired after 26 years of faithful service and was replaced by a custom built Pirsch fire engine. In 1961, HTFD opened its second fire station on South River Road near Jefferson Avenue. To meet the growing needs of the fire department, a new headquarters was erected on Crocker Boulevard in 1972. 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Harrison Township Fire Department was among a select few fire service organizations such as Los Angeles County, Dade County, and the City of Seattle, that were pioneering a new dramatic approach to the conventional first aid response. Harrison Township firefighters were among the first class of paramedics to be trained in Michigan. A few cities such as Grand Rapids and Southfield were also operating Advanced Life Support units. In September of 1972, HTFD became the first transporting paramedic agency to be licensed by the state of Michigan.

In the 1990s, the Harrison Township fire Department established one of the first hazardous materials response teams in Macomb County. In addition, the HTFD formed the county’s first dive and rescue team. 

In 2006, the fire station on South River Road was closed and a new headquarters/fire station was opened on Jefferson Avenue. In 2008, Harrison Township’s lineage to the Mount Clemens Fire Department was restored as both departments signed on of the first automatic/mutual aid response agreements in Macomb County. The Harrison Township Fire Department remains an organization proud of its past, prepared for its present, and planning for its future.