Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Green Oak Township has selected a new fire chief.

The Board of Trustees met Wednesday night and voted unanimously to hire Matthew Lupo – who will bring extensive experience, certifications, training, and skills to the role.

Lupo is the current Fire Chief/Emergency Manager for Nolensville Fire & Rescue in Tennessee, and brings 16 years of command level experience from just that role. He has more than 27 years of fire service experience.

There was an in-depth search conducted, with 27 initial candidates. That was narrowed down to 8, and then eventually the final two following a rigorous assessment by an outside firm.

The board conducted interviews at a previous meeting but held off on making a decision at that time due to the high caliber of the two candidates. The other was Westland Fire Chief Darrell Stamper.

Supervisor Mark. St. Charles told WHMI they had two excellent candidates, which is a problem you want to have, but it was tough and they had to boil it down - saying everyone on the board asked about the same questions during the process.

St. Charles said he spent countless hours thinking everything through and at the end of the day, it came down to who he felt was the best fit for Green Oak Township in all aspects and it was Lupo. He added that while Lupo is in Tennessee, he’s originally from Michigan and still has family here.

As for some things that stuck out; St. Charles said Lupo has a lot of experience with more open areas, including finding victims stranded in areas that might be hard to get to - saying “we have 6,000 acres of parkland – some that’s very difficult”.

St. Charles said Lupo also brings a lot of experience with disasters including hurricanes and a lot of flooding. While hurricanes are not likely here, he said there is the very real possibility od extreme flooding, damaging straight-line winds, and tornadoes. St. Charles also referenced plane crashes, railroads, and major crashes on expressways – and “Lupo seemed to have a lot of experience in all those areas”.

St. Charles again stressed there were two excellent candidates and the board showed leadership in making a difficult decision – adding there was “something about Lupo” and feels they’ll work good together. He said he’s looking forward to Lupo and the other deputy chief sitting down with the firefighters and staff to understand their needs, noting there will be some budget issues to address in upcoming years.

There are still contract negotiations to take place between Lupo and the township.

Lupo replaces the recently retired longtime Chief Kevin Gentry, who served the Department for the past 33 years – with the last eleven as chief.

More about Lupo in the provided link.

Photo: LinkedIn.