By Chris Spangler
The number of full-time Fort Atkinson emergency responders grew by a dozen Monday afternoon.
City Clerk/Treasurer Michelle Ebbert administered the oath of office to 12 fire department employees hired in the wake of April’s successful public safety referendum expanding Fort Atkinson’s career firefighting and rescue personnel.
The new duty crew includes Captain/paramedic Josh Brant, Captain/Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) Robbie Allard, Captain/AEMT Jim Chase, paramedic/firefighter Mike Vorpahl, paramedic/firefighter Danielle Graham, paramedic/firefighter Owen Peachey, paramedic/firefighter Rob Harris, AEMT/firefighter Chris Barr, AEMT/firefighter Mike Lawson, AEMT/firefighter Rob Stine and AEMT/firefighter Mike Messler.
“This is a very significant event for this department, with our first full-time duty crew being sworn in today,” Fire Chief Daryl Rausch said in welcoming a standing-room-only crowd. “All these people have gone through a pretty extensive process to be selected as members of our department. All of them have gone through hundreds of hours, and in some cases thousands of hours, of training to prepare then for this step in their career.
“We expect that these folks will be with us for a long time and will provide an excellent level of service to the community,” he added.
City Manager Rebecca Houseman Lemire thanked all who supported the public safety referendum last spring, and welcomed the new employees, many of whom already have ties to the “volunteer” fire department.
“I want to thank you for your support over the last year-and-a half,” she told attendees. “The referendum was a very stressful situation for all of us — I think friends and family and everybody who works for the city and all our team here — but with your help and support, we were ale to get it passed and hire these 12 people behind us.”
She also thanked city council members past and present and all in attendance “for making this day possible.”
After taking the oath of office, each new employee received his or her badge pinned on by a family member.
After the ceremony, Rausch said this marked a historic day.
“This is a seminal moment for the community and for the department, to be able to bring EMS in-house and provide municipal services,” he stated. “I think it gives us a higher level of service with three dedicated units, and staffed by our career people and our volunteers, I think that you’re going to see an increase in our performance and, most likely, a better service to the community just because of the availability of the trucks we are going to have.”
Rausch noted that applicants for the full-time positions numbered in the mid-20s, with 19 brought in for interviews.
“I think we’re lucky to be able to hire that many people. Many communities are struggling to hire, but we made the job pretty attractive. The other side of this is that we’ve home-grown a lot of our own people,” the chief said.
He pointed out that several of the new staffers have been serving Fort Atkinson for many years, through the fire department, rescue contractor and in neighboring communities.
“So they’re all pretty local,” Rausch said. “I think that’s really important, that they’re familiar with the city and they are familiar with the needs of the community. I think that we’ll see great things coming in the future.”
Mike Reel, who retired as fire chief six years ago, echoed those sentiments.
“It is a very exciting day for the fire department and for the community,” Reel said. “We’ve worked for a number of years to get to this point. It’s been a hard road. I think finally all the stars aligned and a lot of folks had a change in attitude.”
He pointed out that the public-education effort was necessary to get the referendum passed. Staffing was being stretched due to the call volume’s steady rise and voters finally understood the need for adding career staff to the paid-on-call “volunteers,” he said.
“We left it up to the folks,” Reel said. “And I think it was great that their voices were heard and we are here today because of those people and their support.
“I can’t really believe the it’s here,” he added. “I am very happy and very humbled, and it is exciting to see it finally come to fruition.”
Adding the full-time staff is expected to reduce rollout times for fire calls from seven minutes to just 90 seconds. The in-house EMS service doubles the city’s capacity to respond to EMS calls by dedicating two ambulances to 911 services. Non-emergency transports will continue to be managed by Fort Memorial Hospital, which will engage private services to meet that need.
Until Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, the fire department had had the same number of full-time staff since 1974: one full-time chief and three full-time division chiefs. It relied heavily on volunteers.
Prior to the referendum, Rausch had said that volunteers were leaving the department due to the stress related to the number of calls and the complexity and frequency of training. The department was facing continual turnover of between five and seven members each year.
The chief said that in 1974, the department responded to 124 calls for service. Between 1977 and 2020, there was a nearly steady increase in calls since 1992, when calls were at a low of 151. From that point on, they rose incrementally, with requests for fire, rescue and EMS services growing 9% to 12% each year.
By 2020, that number had increased to 455. In 2021, the fire department responded to more than 500 incidents for the first time ever, representing a 108% increase in calls for service since 2010.
In 2021, Rausch said, the fire department responded to 64 EMS calls when the private contractor wasn’t available, resulting in 55 transports by the fire department and one transport provided by the Jefferson Fire and EMS. In 2017, a fundraising campaign allowed the fire department to purchase an ambulance.
These new 12 full-time positions are expected to handle up to 95% of EMS calls and half of the department’s fire-related calls, reducing the reliance on the department’s volunteer members by at least 200 calls per year.
Fort Atkinson Fire Chief Daryl Rausch, at center, welcomes 12 new firefighters and EMS employees to the department’s full-time crew. The honorees and their guests attended a swearing-in ceremony Monday afternoon.
A used ambulance is parked at the fire department. The new vehicle was added to the department’s fleet following an EMS referendum approved by the city’s voters in April.
Two photos above: Friends, family, colleagues and city officials fill the Fort Atkinson Fire Department’s common room. The group gathered Monday for a swearing-in ceremony.
Three photos above: At top, Fort Atkinson City Clerk/Treasurer Michelle Ebbert administers the oath of office to the 12 new fire department employees; at center, friends and family members applaud the new hires; above, several of the new hires take the oath of office.
Five photos above: Family members pin the badge on the new full-time fire/EMS employees. The employees are at top, Robert (Robbie) Allard; second from top, Mike Messler; third from top, Robb Harris; fourth from top, Mike Lawson, and above, Mike Vorpahl.
Former and longtime Fort Atkinson Police and Fire Commission member Dick Schultz, at left, congratulates the new full-time firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.
Following the ceremony, two former Fort Atkinson fire chiefs: Tom Emrick, at left, and Mike Reel, at center, visit with Fort Atkinson Fire Chief Daryl Rausch.
Former Fire Chief Tom Emrick enjoys cake after the swearing-in ceremony.
Saydie Graham, at left, tries out her mother’s firefighter helmet after the ceremony. Danielle Graham is among 12 new full-time firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who were sworn into the department Monday.
Jim Chase, front row, from left, Danielle Graham, Josh Brant and Mike Lawson, followed by Owen Peachey, back row, from left, Rob Allard, Mike Vorpahl, Robb Harris, Joe Mildenstein, Mike Messler, Chris Barr and Rob Stine gather for a group photo of the new full-time fire department employees.
New fire department full-time employees Rob Allard, front row, from left, Jim Chase, and Danielle Graham, followed by Fort Atkinson City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire, along with new department full-time employees Josh Brant and Mike Lawson, along with department division chiefs Mike Lawrence, Tom Gerondale, back row, from left, and Dion Brown, and including new full-time department employees Owen Peachey, Mike Vorpahl, Robb Harris, Joe Mildenstein, Mike Messler, Chris Barr, and Rob Stine, and Fire Chief Daryl Rausch gather following Monday’s ceremony.
Chris Spangler photos.
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