Western Lakes Fire District Lt. Rik Krahn celebrated 50 years of serving the community in January — and he doesn't plan to retire quite yet.
Krahn, the oldest member of the department at 72, started volunteering with the Oconomowoc Fire Department on Jan. 1, 1972, after meeting his future wife. Her father was a lieutenant with the department. Oconomowoc merged with the Dousman Fire Department in 2017 to create Western Lakes, and Krahn was right there for the transition. Over his career, he's responded to thousands of emergency calls; in addition to his role as a firefighter, he has served as an emergency medical technician, and now works as a heavy equipment operator and one of the district's dive team leaders.