16 minute read
COVER FEATURE
Fire shortage
As the numbers of calls increase, the numbers of fi refi ghters have stayed the same since 1970. A new plan seeks to change that.
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Photo courtesy Ethan Bares
On the chilly evening of Nov. 11, a garage fi re
ignited and started burning in the 400 block of 11th Street. Firefi ghters responded to the call as they always do, thinking about the safety of others before themselves.
Th e timing of the call was unfortunate, although it’s becoming a scenario all too common: Two of the three ambulances from Station No. 1 on the city’s east side were out on fi re calls, along with their requisite staff , leaving only an engine company of two to respond to the call.
If that seems fewer than ideal, well, it was. Th e two fi refi ghters — one an engineer the other a lieutenant — hopped onto the fi re engine and sped to the call. Other engines and ambulances arrived later. Firefi ghters on ambulance calls must fi nish their calls before they can respond to a fi re. Th ey don’t abbreviate care for their patients, a fi re offi cial told City Pages.
On scene, the garage was blazing and waiting for backup wasn’t an option if they wanted to keep the fi re from spreading from the garage to the house, and perhaps to other houses in the neighborhood. Th e lieutenant grabbed the 2 ½” hose meant to be held by several people, straddled it on the ground to keep it steady, and trained it on the fi re.
Th e city’s videographer, Ethan Bares, happened to be doing a ridealong that evening and recorded stunning photos and video of the bravery. Th e public can see fi rsthand the work fi refi ghters do on a regular basis.
It also off ered the perfect case study to demonstrate something Wausau Fire Chief Robert Barteck says has become a growing problem. Th e number of calls for service has steadily risen over the years. Th e number of fi refi ghters/ parademics has not. City Pages analyzed fi re calls doing back nearly two decades, and confi rmed Barteck’s argument. Th e number of calls the department has responded to since 2002 has doubled, while the number of fi refi ghters has roughly stayed the same. In fact, Barteck argues, some positions gave way to administration roles. Th at leaves even fewer boots on the ground, so to speak.
Barteck is asking for nine new fi refi ghters for the department. It’s a big ask, but it’s also coming from a department that hasn’t seen a staffi ng increase since 1970, according to research Barteck put together.
But all that is in the backdrop of a larger problem — the challenge of recruiting public safety workers. And, frankly, all workers. As many point out the new Th e Great Resignation trend, public workers are often some of the hardest to recruit. Following Act 10, the great pay/benefi ts public worker jobs often off ered are gone; with them, one of the best recruitment tools for jobs that are dangerous and/or come with public scrutiny. Generally, incentives align around dangerous jobs; now they’re aligned toward safer private sector jobs.
If it hasn’t yet, it should leave you wondering what the future of public safety is going to look like.
Recruiting
Th e Wausau Fire Department had fi ve retirements and four resignations in 2021. Th e department until very recently had fi ve open positions to fi ll. Th e Police and Fire Commission last week fi nally voted to accept the recruits for those positions.
Th at exhausts the list of available fi refi ghters. Barteck said when he was entering the fi re service 30 years ago, he was competing with hundreds of other potential fi refi ghters. Waiting lists of qualifi ed applicants were long, so there was always someone to pull from.
Th ose days are over. Th e recent recruits exhausted the department’s hiring list. Th ey’ll have to go fi nd more.
Where are they going? Barteck says two of the four resignations went to the private sector. Both of them went to helicopter ambulance services. Th e other two left to move closer to home.
Barteck says the department needs to think much diff erently about recruitment than it has in the past. It helps that Wausau is a department of choice. In a meeting of the police and fi re commission this year in which commissioners were asking fi refi ghters what they wanted to see in a new chief, several mentioned either specifi cally choosing Wausau for its reputation and/or selecting Wausau over other departments.
Th at was largely due to the eff orts of now-retired chief Tracey Kujawa. Firefi ghters in the meeting said they wanted to see more of her style of leadership.
Barteck says Kujawa really started turning things around at the Wausau Fire Department, including major infrastructure improvements and the development of a strategic plan.
Barteck hopes to continue that work, and this initiative to bring more fi refi ghters on board is a step toward that goal.
Highlighting that work is an important part of the recruitment strategy. Th e city videographer, Bares, plays a big role
in that. Filming and putting out high-quality recruitment videos is a huge draw.
Wausau’s isn’t the only department doing so. A search on YouTube reveals a number of recruitment videos for departments all over the country. And Wausau’s police department has been incorporating video for some time. In fact, the videographer position is housed at the police department and came from efforts by the police to start putting out more film and engaging in social media more, as a 2019 story in City Pages highlighted.
It’s not just firefighters
Public safety institutions in general are seeing a decline in recruits and changes to the operating models of many departments. According to a study by the Wisconsin Public Policy Institute, many departments are moving away from volunteer models to full-time staff because they can’t keep enough volunteers around. And even recruiting for those positions is difficult.
At the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Deputy Chad Billeb laid out a situation in the communications center. According to his report, the communications center hired two new dispatchers, who were doing a really good job. They were doing such a good job, he explained, that they were hired away by a truck dispatching company, which offered better pay and more pedestrian hours. (And, presumably, fewer life and death decisions and the pressure that comes with that.)
That’s a problem, Billeb explains. The sheriff’s office has been working on building up its new emergency channel the county helped fund several years ago. The equipment is there, but maintaining the staff has been a challenge, Billeb explained recently to the county’s public safety committee.
Likelihood of it passing?
Lisa Rasmussen, city council member and Finance Committee chair, told City Pages she didn’t see many roadblocks to the nine positions being passed. The Human Resources Committee will look at the matter next and make its recommendations, and then the Finance Committee will consider the funding and timeline.
There are a couple of different ways it can happen, Rasmussen told City Pages. Since the actual recruitment will likely take quite some time (the department exhausted its list of recruits with the last hiring it did for five open positions), it’s entirely possible the new firefighters wouldn’t start until the new year, almost halving the costs for 2022. (Some costs, such as the additional gear the firefighters would need, is a fixed cost either way.) That would allow additional time to budget for the new positions in 2023. There’s also the possibility of hiring in phases to stagger the costs a bit, Rasmussen says.
In additional, Rasmussen says, the chief is working on applying for a grant that would help offset the costs and allow the city to “absorb the cost over time and perhaps bring them on board over a shorter time frame,” Rasmussen told City Pages.
How’d it get to this point?
Looking at the data showing there hadn’t been an increase in the number of firefighters since 1970 might lead one to wonder: what happened? Both Barteck and Rasmussen provide answers and they don’t flinch in making it: things had been allowed to deteriorate prior to the hiring of the last Chief, Tracey Kujawa.
Barteck is clear when speaking to a reporter: Kujawa was the first to really start turning things around when she took over as fire chief in 2014. She was well-respected in Stevens Point (this reporter can attest to that firsthand from covering police and fire in Stevens Point during her reign) and was in Wausau too. During a Police and Fire Commission meeting in which members interviewed firefighters about what they wanted to see in a new chief, they were clear: someone with the same values as Kujawa.
But Kujawa had a lot to fix at the department, Rasmussen says. The fire stations were in rough shape, and a number of needs started to add up at the fire stations. For some reason, those issues never came up in the form of capital requests, so they went unfilled.
Rasmussen said when she first started on the city council, making sure public safety got what they needed to do their jobs safely while protecting the community was a major priority for her and also, she says, the Mielke administration. Many changes were made under Kujawa, who lobbied for the things others had left to deteriorate.
That didn’t happen in the police department. Whereas fire chiefs prior to Kujawa didn’t seem to have the stomach to lobby for needed improvements during a time period following the recession, now-retired Police Chief Jeff Hardel had no such qualms, Rasmussen told City Pages. So the police got what they needed, and city council members weren’t even fully aware of the deficiencies of the fire department until they were absolutely urgent.
A good example? Radios. Typically the fire department had gotten hand-me-down radios from the police department, not new radios like the police department got, Rasmussen says. Why is that a problem? Because the radios weren’t made for the environment of a fire, and would often fail. In something as critical as a fire call, that can’t happen.
Rasmussen learned of it and the department was convinced to apply for capital improvement budgets to address the issue. They now sport appropriate radios.
Another example is the fact that there was no exhaust in the garage bay and turnout gear was stored near the kitchen; if they’d been to a fire, the whole place smelled like smoke. The dust on the gear is carcinogenic, Rasmussen says. Kujawa addressed both those issues.
Rasmussen said the first step was to get the fire department up to safety standards, and make it a good place to work. The next step is to hire people at a department that is safe, which is where the department is at now.
So it’s likely (not certain, but nothing in the way of opposition has been voiced yet) that the fire department will get some needed help. But the challenge of finding recruits, as it is for many public safety institutions, remains.
What is a Crisis?
A crisis is whatever an individual, family or group feels is a crisis at the time. Crisis situations can take many forms.
• Feeling overwhelmed, depressed, helpless, hopeless or unable to cope with difficult situations in their life
• Talking about or attempting suicide • Bullying or threats of violence • Drug and/or alcohol abuse • Eating disorders • Difficulties at school • Other mental health emergencies
Is There Help for Kids Under 18?
YES! North Central Health Care’s NEW Youth Crisis Stabilization is located in Wausau and available to serve youth under 18 from Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Forest, Vilas and Oneida Counties. This brand new facility provides stabilization for youth experiencing mental health crisis. Providing 24-hour care in a warm and welcoming setting, the program provides short-term therapeutic interventions to reduce and stabilize a child’s crisis and link them and their family to resources and supports.
Youth Crisis Stabilization
Visit Our Website for Information, Resources & Tools for You and Your Family!
HELPA FRIEND Knowwhen to
REMEMBERTO
• Videos • Toolkits • Links
1 Feeling very sad or withdrawn for more than two weeks 2 Seriously trying to harm or kill oneself or making plans to do so 3 Severe out-of-control, risk-taking behaviors 4 Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason 5 Not eating, throwing up or significant weight loss or gain 6 Seeing/hearing/believingthings that are not real 7 Repeatedly using drugs or alcohol 8 Drastic changesin mood, behavior, personality or sleepinghabits 9 Extreme difficulty in concentrating or staying still 10 Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities KNOWTHE10COMMONWARNINGSIGNS or staying still BEAFRIEND BEPATIENT, KIND, UNDERSTANDING & PROVIDE HOPE
“It worries me to hear you talking like this. Let’s talk to someone about it.” “I’ve noticed that you haven’t been acting like yourself lately. Is something going on?” “I’ve noticed you’re [sleeping more/eating less, etc.], is everything ok today?” START THE CONVERSATION
Your friend may feel alone; check in regularly and include your friend in your plans
Avoid sayingthingslike “you’ll get over it,” “toughen up” or you’re fine” Tell your friend that having a mental health condition does not change the way you feel about them that having the way feel about them e Tell your friend it gets bet ter; help and support ar out ther friend it bete
GETADVICE OFFER SUPPORT
You may want to reach out to someone to talk to about how you’re feeling or to get advice on how to help your friend. Consider talking to a: to talk to your Consider talking to a: TEACHER
FAMILYMEMBER
TRUSTED FRIEND
SCHOOL COUNSELOR COACH FAITH LEADER Would you like me to go with you to a support group or a meeting? Do you need a ride to any of your appointments? I really want to help, what can I do to help you right now? Let’s sit down together and look for places to get help. I can go with you too.
If youor someone youknow are experiencing a medical emergency, are indanger, or are feelingsuicidal, CALL911IMMEDIATELY.
www.norcen.org/Youth TakingcontrolofyourMENTALHEALTHSometimesour mentalhealthiswithinour control, andsometimeswemay needhelp. Navigating our own mind can be tricky, but here are some lifestyleoptions, coping strategies, tips and tricks that may help.GetPlentyofSleepGetting enoughsleephelps you grow anddevelop normally, pay attention throughout the day and maintain overall health For teens, this means about 8-10 hours each night.Focusonyour strengthsTake time to think about what you’re good at and ways to do more of those things. By focusing on and building your strengths, you can keep your stressors in perspectiveDothingsthatmakeyouhappyFind activities or hobbies that make you happy andincorporate them into your daily life Engageinphysicalactivitycise takesour mindoffstress and releasedchemicals in our brainthatmakeus feelbetter. Thiscan beanything from a stroll in thepark,to a downhillbikerideor basketballgame withfriendsalktosomeoneIt can be hard to manage stress alone. Talk to a parent or other trusted adult about your problems and they may be able to help you find ways to manage your str ADDITIONALWAYSTOCOPEWITHANXIETYORSTRESSKeep a Journal Practice Yoga Eat Healthy Avoid Excess CaffeineIdentify Negative Thoughts Ifyou ar
Challenge Keep Busy Thoughts Negative Thoughts Avoid Triggers Listen to Music Think of SomethingGrateful For You are your life makeyou you happy happy incorporate Give yourself a DailyComplimentThink of 5 Things You canHear Right Now Feel the Pressure of Your Feeton the Floor www.norcen.org/Youth Whotocall& WHEN TOCALL Sometimes ourmentalhealthiswithin our contr Navigating our own mind can be tricky. Her helpdetermine if you may need professional help. Do youhavemildsymptomsthathavelastedforlessthantwoweeks? • Feelingalittledown • Feelingdown,butstillabletotake careofyourselforothers If so,here are someself careactivitiesthat canhelp: • Exercising • Engaginginsocialcontact(virtualorinperson) • Gettingadequatesleepon a regularschedule DoIhave severesymptomsthathavelasted2weeks or mor • Difficultysleeping • Appetitechangesresultinginunwantedweightchange • Strugglingtogetoutofbedbecauseofmood • Difficultyconcentrating If so,seek professionalhelp: • Psychotherapy(talktherapy)-virtual orin person; individual,grouporfamily DoIhavethoughtsofdeath,selfhar If soseekimmediatemedicalattention NationalSuicidePr Exer makeus feelbetterto a bikerideT can be har adult about your prfind manage your str basketballgame withfriends
If you have symptoms that have lasted 2 weeks or more, ask a doctor, counselor or trusted adult to help seek out professional help. e having thoughts of death, self harm, or hurting others call 911or theNorthCentralHealthCare Crisis Center at 1.800.799.0122 may be able to help your ess 911 or the North Central Health Carol, and sometimes we may need help. e are some questions you can ask yourself to Do you have mild symptoms that have lasted for less than two weeks? • Feelingdown,butstillabletodoschoolwork • Sometroublesleeping e activities that can help: orinperson) • • • Eatinghealthy Talkingto atrustedfriend orfamilymember Practicingmeditation,relaxationandmindfulness e symptoms that have lasted 2 weeks or more? getout bedbecause mood • • • Lossofinterestinthethingsyouusuallyfind Unabletoperformusualdailyfunctions and responsibilities Thoughtsofdeath orself-harm enjoyable
therapy)-virtual orin person; • • Medications Brainstimulationtherapies
Do I have thoughts of death, self harm,orharmingothers? If so seek immediate medical attentionbycalling911 orthe National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK(8255)
importantCONTACTINFORMATION
Ifyou areexperiencinga medicalemergency, are in danger, or arefeelingsuicidal,call911immediately. CrisisTextLineTextHELLOto741741 or message us on facebook.com/CrisisTextLine to chat with a Crisis Counselor. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
NationalAlcoholandSubstanceAbuseInformationCenter800-784-6776Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a weekhttp://www.addictioncareoptions.com NationalSuicideHotline800-SUICIDE(784-2433)800-442-HOPE(4673)Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a weekhttp://www.hopeline.com Depression,Bipolar&CrisisSupport800-273-TALK(8255)Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a weekhttp://www.dbsalliance.org NationalSuicidePreventionLifeline800-273-TALK(8255)Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a weekhttp://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org NationalAllianceonMentalIllness(NAMI)(800)950-NAMI(1+800-950-6264)
www.norcen.org/Youth 6 p.m. TeenLine(310)855-HOPE(4673)(800)TLC-TEEN(852-8336)OrtextTEENto839863to 10 p.m. Pacific Time, everyhttps://teenlineonline.org night
Download or View NAMINorthwoods’s InformationLine(Nota crisisline)(715)432-0180Our NorthCentralHealthCare CrisisCenter(715)845-4326 or 1(800)799-0122 Forahearingimpaired/TDDline,dial(715)845-4928 Mental Health Toolkit for Youth! www.norcen.org/Youth
