Wisconsin Fire Department Seeks Aid for Manpower, Services

(TNS) – The Waterford Fire Department is turning to the federal government for help to improve staffing and replace old equipment in the cash-starved department.

Faced with village budget cuts, fire department staff has applied for federal grants to hire more personnel and to purchase new portable breathing instruments for firefighters.

Waterford fire officials also are broadening their cooperative relationship with neighboring departments to improve responses to medical emergencies.

Fire Chief Kevin Hafemann said he is hoping for enough federal relief to improve services by hiring three more firefighters.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed,” Hafemann said.

One of the grant programs, known as Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, provided $2 million last year to the City of Eau Claire for hiring firefighters.

Waterford also has applied for an Assistance to Firefighters grant to purchase new self-contained breathing apparatuses for department staff, to replace equipment that is aging and deteriorated.

Both grant programs are operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hafemann credited Waterford village officials with authorizing the grant applications at a time when village funding is tight.

The Waterford Village Board this year cut funding from $1,279,308 to $1,176,297 for fire operations and emergency medical services. Overall village spending in all departments is down from $16.5 million to $12.4 million.

Village officials are considering holding a voter referendum to increase funding for the fire department.

Public backlash against the fire department funding crunch began last year when Hafemann announced that he would not send firefighters to march in the village’s Fourth of July parade.

Former Waterford Fire Commission Chairwoman Janice Piper, who has been critical of the village, posted on Facebook this week that community members should keep up pressure on officials to replenish fire department losses.

“It is hard to believe what has happened,” Piper wrote, “but people need to take it seriously and show up to sustain, now rebuild, our fire department.”

Hafemann said he and his colleagues are not only hoping for increased support from the village, they are trying to be resourceful on their own through the grant applications and expanded cooperation with neighboring departments.

“We try to be pro-active,” he said. “We’re trying to really work through this issue.”

Village funding cuts in 2023 and 2024 have prompted the fire department to reduce staffing at the firehouse to three firefighters on weekdays and two on weeknights and weekends. Injuries to three firefighters have cut staffing even further temporarily.

In some instances, Waterford firefighters cannot enter a burning building or handle certain types of medical emergencies until neighboring fire departments respond with additional personnel.

Waterford’s department has an agreement with the Rochester and Tichigan fire departments to handle one another’s ambulance calls if any of the three departments get stretched thin. It is similar to mutual-aid agreements in which nearby firefighters provide assistance on structure fires.

Rochester Fire Chief Michael Vos said the emergency medical arrangement is invoked about once or twice a month, and that staffing shortages are presenting similar challenges for many fire departments.

“We’re all short,” he said. “We’re all looking for people.”

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