The Mequon Common Council voted Tuesday night to approve an agreement to merge fire departments with the village of Thiensville.
Thiensville, which approved a memorandum of understanding to share emergency medical services with Mequon, will vote on the agreement at a future meeting.
Mequon City Administrator William Jones said Ozaukee County approved $5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to hire 18 paramedics and fund a study to determine how local fire departments should be consolidated.
“Fire and EMS staffing is not just a challenge here in Mequon and Thiensville and across the county, but it’s a rising concern across the state,” Jones said.
The number of EMS calls in Mequon has more than doubled in the last decade, increasing from 1,000 in 2011 to more than 2,000 in 2021, according to data presented April 12.