Ogg returns to Dryden Township Fire Dept
DRYDEN — After three years on the sidelines, Mike Ogg is back on the job at the Dryden Township Fire Department.
Dryden Township Board members voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 8, to rehire the veteran fire fighter as the department’s hiring and retention officer, provided he passes a physical and background check.
Ogg, 57, who was assistant chief at the time, resigned in October 2023 following a leadership crisis in the 26-member department that saw assistant chief Keith Klobucar resign and about a half-dozen other firefighters take a leave of absence that March.
Amid accusations of years of poor command and communication, Mark Hagemeister, who’d been fire chief since 2014 and a member of the department for 39 years, stepped down.
Despite resigning, Ogg, who has more than 30 years of fire service under his belt, told township board members at the time he was willing to continue to serve as the top officer while a search for a new chief took place.
The township hired veteran firefighter Jim Stevenson to lead the department in January 2024, but he resigned a year later for personal reasons and was replaced by third-generation fire fighter Darr Darrell Schultz Jr.
“Everything is running smoothly now,” Schultz said Tuesday night.
Schultz told township board members that Ogg approached him a little more than a month ago saying he missed the fire service and wanted to return.
However, Schultz said, “Mike’s wife does not want him wearing an air pack or going into a building.” He said Ogg could operate trucks, drive tankers and serve as training officer – “anything not involving going into buildings.”
Board member Sue Lowney said it was “Awesome to have him back in the department.”
Board members also voted unanimously to promote Matt VanDam, who was recognized at the department’s Firefighter of the Year, to lieutenant. VanDam will serve a one-year probationary period.
Schultz told township board members he will be going to Roscommon for the 47th Annual Michigan Firemen’s Memorial Festival on Sept. 18-20. He’ll be there to see the names of two Dryden fire fighters added to the memorial wall.
Ralph Starke, 66, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in March. A member of the Dryden Township Fire Department since 2014, he was recognized by the department as Medical First Responder of the Year in both 2022 and 2025. Richard “Rick” Burmann Jr., 49, a 10-year veteran of the department died Aug. 12, 2025.
Schultz said the Firemen’s Memorial, located at the Roscommon County Fire Training Grounds, bears the names of Michigan fire fighters who died in service. He added a wall behind the memorial bears the names of fire fighters who died of other causes while serving a department or who have passed after 10 years serving on a department.
