When flames tore through a Fort Atkinson warehouse in early August, fire departments from as far away as Illinois responded.
Jefferson Fire Chief Ronald Wegner, president of the Jefferson County Fire Chiefs Association and whose department was one of many who responded that week, said that when a call for response went out–there just wasn’t enough people close by to go.
“You keep calling for help and calling for help till enough people show up,” Wegner said. For his and many other fire/EMS departments across Wisconsin, the staffing situation is untenable.
“We have a system that is broken, and it’s really imploding right now,” Wegner said.
On Wednesday, the non-partisan Wisconsin Policy Forum released a report years in the making, finding rising numbers of EMS calls and a growing inability to maintain current service models is contributing to a growing challenge for fire and EMS departments across Wisconsin.