Four Alpena Firefighters receive promotions

ALPENA, Mich. — “This is a really big day for the Alpena Fire Department.”

Those were Fire Chief Bill Forbush’s words after four fire command officers received promotions on Monday afternoon. Chris Morrison, Tyler Suszek and Daniel Hibner were promoted to the rank of Fire Lieutenant. Brett Miller was named Fire Captain, as the four of them celebrated the honor with their families.

“Family in EMS and Fire is essential, it’s huge,” said Lt. Morrison. “They are the ones that keep you going, they are the ones that- on a bad day- make everything better.”

“It’s an honor to be promoted with the other three individuals,” said Lt. Hibner. “To be in that rank- it’s an honor.”

The four officers will make up the majority of  the command staff for the next several years.

“This is the whole first line supervision crew and a third of the captains,” said Chief Forbush. “All of them are very strong firefighters and do a great job for us.”

For both Morrison and Hibner- giving back is at the root of it all.

“I am what you’d want to call a helper,” Morrison said. “What better situation to be in than a firefighter paramedic?”

“I started off in the volunteer world,” Hibner said. “I got involved to help give back to the community, and then just moved up from volunteer to full time and it’s been a great move.”

Chief Forbush said they used an assessment center to make these promotions, and he’s excited to bring positive changes to the department.