Fire Board to address response time concerns

Large swaths of rural land that used to receive fire services from the Newburg, Waubeka and Fredonia fire departments are now covered by the new Ozaukee Central Fire Department — but some residents are concerned that the new arrangement may result in longer response times.

The cancellation of about $50,000 in contracts with the three departments, which was approved by the Ozaukee Central Fire Board in October, will come back to the board for discussion on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Residents of the affected area have come to several Saukville Town Board meetings to complain. They argue that in many places, it requires several more miles of driving to get from the Ozaukee Central Saukville or Grafton fire stations compared to the other stations.

But, Ozaukee Central Fire Board Chairwoman Barb Dickmann said on Monday that distance is not the only consideration for response times.

Ozaukee Central plans to have 24/7 full-time paramedic staff at both stations, compared to the largely paid on-call volunteers of other departments.

“It may be only a couple miles away, but if it’s a volunteer on call, then they have to get the message and reply and come to the station,” she said. “Whereas, we have full-time staff waiting at the station.

“It is our belief that (the residents in these areas) will get better service.”

Dickmann noted that the mutual aid system used by all nearby departments means that whenever any department doesn’t have the available firefighters to respond to a call, they can get support from other departments.

Under the old contracts, a large area in the west of the town was covered by the Newburg Fire Department, a section in the north-center by the Waubeka Fire Department and another in the north-east by the Fredonia Fire Department.

The contract cancellation was not a surprise to any of the communities covered by the department, Dickmann said.

“Everyone had an understanding of what this department will be,” she said, adding that every community in the county was invited to join the department.

Ozaukee Central serves the villages and towns of Grafton and Saukville. It will have 25 full-time positions when fully staffed, according to it’s budget approved in October.

“We believe as the Ozaukee Central Fire Department that we will be able to provide better service to everybody we serve,” she said.

Dickmann said concerned residents are welcome to attend the Fire Board meeting at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, at the Saukville Police Department.