After months of being short-staffed, the Rice Lake Fire Department is now asking the city council to revisit its decision to cut a full-time firefighter position. While the council says that decision was caused by a budget deficit, officials with the department say something needs to be done to ensure the safety of the community.
"We're a relatively small dept. we have currently on staff 12 career members plus the fire chief...our staff has been cut two firefighters over the course of years and we also don't have any administrative support…that's been taken away from us as well as a fire inspector," said Lieutenant Doug Ripplinger. Back in October, the Rice Lake City Council elected not to fill a vacant firefighter position. A decision the council says was tough but was caused by a budget deficit.