When the clock struck 12:01 a.m. Saturday, three fire departments with a combined history of 420 years officially merged as one.
The Clyman Fire Department has been in operation since 1909. While Reeseville Fire Department began in 1892, Lowell Fire Department traces its roots back to 1845.
Over the last five years, Clyman, Lowell and Reeseville fire departments have already been responding, effectively as one department to calls because of the lack of members during the daytime hours.
Clyman, Lowell and Reeseville fire departments or as they are now known as CLR were struggling to recruit and retain volunteers so they began studying the possibility of a merger.
CLR Fire Chief Eric Howlett said a fire department, who can’t maintain a roster of 30 volunteers, could find itself shut down by the State of Wisconsin.