Zeeland Fire Chief Retiring After 52 Years In The Department

ZEELAND, Mich. (AP) -- Fires in Zeeland? Bill Gruppen probably knows all of them - for the last 52 years.

Gruppen is retiring this fall as the fire chief in the small Ottawa County city, west of Grand Rapids. When he joined the department in 1964, he was just 21 and there were 15 firefighters. Now there are 33.

Gruppen has been chief for nearly 40 years. He tells the Holland Sentinel that he would hop on his bike as a kid and follow fire trucks. He says he always knew the route because the trucks spilled water when they turned a corner.

Art Grimes, who has spent nearly four decades at the fire department, says Gruppen "bleeds Zeeland" and has been a dedicated public servant.

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