Wyandotte Fire Chief to Retire in January

is retiring next month.

He announced his retirement at the city’s Police and Fire Commission meeting Tuesday night.

"It’s just time to go," MacDonald said. "It's been a real good career. When you get to arrive at the position of fire chief, it's a big deal. It’s as high as you can go. ... It's been a real pleasure to serve the citizens of Wyandotte."

Mayor Joseph Peterson said he was surprised to learn of the chief's departure. He said no decision has yet been made on how to fill the position. Nothing is off the table, he said, including the possibility of merging the city’s and chiefs into a single public safety director,

“We weren’t expecting our chief to retire, so we will have to look at everything,” Peterson said. “Right now, we haven’t had a chance to make any decisions on what to do.”

MacDonald, who was promoted to chief in January 2005, will have exactly 30 years of service with the city when he retires on Jan. 17.

"I’m leaving on the same day I came in," the 53-year-old Wyandotte man said. "I figured it was a good way to end it."

Over the years, MacDonald said, he's had a number of memorable accomplishments, the proudest of which was upgrading the department into providing advanced life support on all of its calls. That change was implemented in 1999 at which time all firefighters had to become trained paramedics if they weren't already.

MacDonald said he plans to relax for a bit after retirement and then decide what to do in the next phase of his life.

"I have a lot of options," he said. "I could do some type of fire inspection work for an insurance company or work in a hospital since I'm still a paramedic. ... I'll be able to travel with my wife more and take on some of my own home projects."

Peterson said MacDonald was an exemplary employee.

“He was a great chief,” the mayor said. “He served the city well. He made a lot of positive changes. He’ll be missed. Mike was a class guy. I hate to see him leave. I would like to see Mike stay, but I understand he has his time and wants to retire. I think it’s a big loss for the city. Mike was the kind of chief who would go right in there and fight the fires with the guys.”

If the chief’s position is filled, Peterson said, it’s the mayor’s responsibility to make the appointment with concurrence of the city council. The candidate also must pass a test through the city’s Firefighters Civil Service, Peterson said.