Barron Lake Association’s early beginnings focused on fire safety
Part 2 of three short stories as told by Lee Lawson Aug. 4, 2017. Written by Jodi Marneris.
The Barron Lake Association was created not to protect the lake quality as it strives to do today, but actually to provide a means of protection for the homes from fire.
Longtime resident Lee Lawson recalls when the organization formed, it was first called the Barron Lake Protective Association and its first task was to create a volunteer fire department.
“We did not have a fire department in the 1940s,” Lawson said. “If there was a fire, help had to come from Niles or Cassopolis. People on the lake knew we needed to have fire protection here so they formed a committee and had a fundraiser at Reid’s Casino to help buy the first fire truck,” she said, noting her uncle was one of the volunteer firemen.
“There weren’t nearly as many houses on the lake that time but there was one very small house that did burn down,” she said.
Admission into the fundraiser, which was held on Nov. 6, 1946, was 75 cents. Two years later, the fire department was established. The original fire house, built in 1948, on the corner of Barron Lake Road and M-60, was replaced with a new structure in 2018 that houses all five fire trucks, equipment, conference room, and gear lockers for the 14 firemen working for Howard Township.
