There’s no room for waiting around on the Caledonia Fire Department, the smallest fire department east of the Interstate in the county.
Nine frontline firefighters (along with a handful of the department’s ranking officers) attended a meeting Wednesday at Caledonia Village Hall about the future plans for their department. Part way through the meeting, all nine of them had to leave the building because they had to respond to a fire and a medical call back-to-back.
“We don’t have any more resources,” Caledonia Battalion Chief Tim St. Amand said before the other firefighters returned. “We’ve got to do something.”
Racine and South Shore fire departments both have more firefighters than Caledonia, although CFD is set to hire six new recruits thanks to a federal grant, closing the gap at least a little bit.