First responders in South Haven are preparing for their biggest night of the year, the Light Up the Lake fireworks show set for July 3.

The annual Independence Day show along Lake Michigan is expected to bring out tens of thousands of spectators, and with that, police, fire, and EMS agencies will be out in force.

South Haven Interim Police Chief Adam DeBoer tells us Light Up the Lake has grown exponentially since he came on board.

“When I started here in 2004, we didn’t bring in as many outside agencies to help us,” DeBoer said. “I can remember my first couple of years, we handled all the complaints. South Haven officers handled traffic control, getting people out of the city. It was a much smaller event.”

DeBoer says these days, no one at the South Haven Police Department gets the night off. All full time officers will be deployed, while assistance will be brought in from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department, its Marine Patrol, Michigan State Police, and the Pokagon Tribal Police. The MSP will have a command center at North Beach, while the Pokagons will have a command center at South Beach. State police will also have a bicycle team roaming around.

South Haven Area Emergency Services will busy as well. Director Brandon Hinz told us more.

“We have about 20 career members and about 30 paid on call members,” Hinz said. “We just pretty much put a sign up out that’s, ‘Hey, everybody come in.’ And we do have a fair amount of folks that will come out and help every July 3. Last year, I think we had a total of 30, which was good.”

Hinz said SHAES will have roaming ambulances assigned to different areas of the city and a fire engine at the ready at North Beach.

Everyone’s advised to give themselves plenty of time if they head to South Haven for the fireworks. The show will start at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, July 3.