2 days ago
Monroe Township fire chief retiring
MONROE TWP., MI — Mark A. Cherney, the fourth chief in Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department's 76-year history, is retiring July 31.
Cherney has been a firefighter for 47 ½ years.
'It's time,' Cherney said earlier this month at the fire station, 15331 South Dixie Highway.
'Chief Cherney submitted his resignation letter at (a Monroe Township board meeting) to allow for the selection of a new fire chief and to be in place prior to his departure,' said John Manor, Monroe Township supervisor.
Manor said the new chief will be named at the next township board meeting, 7 p.m. June 17 at Monroe Township Hall, 4925 E. Dunbar Road. For the first time, the chief will be a full-time paid employee of the township. Cherney said he and his chief predecessors were paid a stipend for service.
"The demands of being a fire chief in a major municipality like Monroe Charter Township, with larger volume of calls and ever-increasing administrative burden, required the board to authorize full-time for this position," Manor said.
Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department currently has 30 active volunteer firefighters. In his retirement, Cherney plans to occasionally visit the station.
'They become your family,' he said.
Cherney also wants to camp, golf and visit his four grandchildren. He and his wife, Carolyn, have two adult children, Brooke and Zac.
Previous Coverage: Cherney named as Monroe Twp.'s next fire chief
Cherney, then 60, became Monroe Township fire chief on April 26, 2019, when the previous chief, Larry Merkle, retired. Merkle had served 47 years and four months with the department.
Born and raised in Monroe County, Cherney became a firefighter with the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department at age 19. According to Monroe News archives, Cherney joined the department in January of 1978, and then left in September of 1986, when he moved to Wayne County and began working full-time on the fire department at Detroit Metro Airport. He moved back to Monroe in 1993 and returned to the department in April of 1994.
Cherney served 33 years at the airport, retiring in 2019 to serve as Monroe Township's fire chief.
A graduate of Eastern Michigan University's School of Fire Staff and Command, Cherney has served as a medic on the SWAT team and also is a licensed paramedic.
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Roger M. Phillips, 1949-55
W.G. Marshall, 1955-83
Larry W. Merkle, 1983-2019
Mark A. Cherney, 2019-25
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe Twp. Fire Chief Cherney retiring; full-time chief to be hired
