About Our Department
Town of Sheboygan Fire Department Officers
Fire Chief:
Ed Biederwolf
Assistant Chief:
Josh Lenz
EMS Chief:
Andrew Perman
Deputy Chief:
Andrew Stahl
Secretary / Treasurer:
Tim Ellis
Truck Captain:
Shawn Murphy
Engine Captain:
Josh Biederwolf
Truck Lieutenant:
Christopher Huenink
Engine Lieutenant:
Justin Welsch
EMS Captain:
Mike Brungraber
EMS Lieutenants:
Erin Wojcik
Fire Department History
Members in 1944 operated different equipment, learned different tactics and operated on a much different budget. However, leadership and community support is much the same as it was back then.
A fire bell notified members of a structure fire when our department started, thus members needed to live within hearing distance of the station bell. Training was far less technical as our understanding of fires was far different in 1944. Fires were cooler, spread slower and didn't involve such toxic chemicals as today's fires. However, members both now and then volunteered their time and risked their lives for their community.
Fire Department Overview
Membership in the Town of Sheboygan Fire Department is open to all residents of the Town of Sheboygan over the age of 17. Potential members must be in relatively good health, pass all recommended and relevant State fire education courses, and attend monthly meetings and drills during a 6-month trial period. Once all required training is completed, attendance obligations are met, and membership approval is obtained, the candidate will be considered a full member with the Town of Sheboygan Fire Department. Interested parties should contact an officer at our fire station to fill out an application or attend a monthly business meeting on the first Tuesday of the month.
We are responsible for delivering direct emergency and non-emergency services for 11 square miles for the Town of Sheboygan. Our department responds to hazardous situations such as fires, vehicle accidents, spills, gas leaks, and other incidents. Our department has two engines, one ladder truck, one tender, one rescue squad and an off-road UTV. We also have a set of Hurst extrication tools including: spreaders; cutters; maverick; rams; air bags and other tools necessary to make any type of extrication for a victim.
Township Integration
Our fire department is part of the Town of Sheboygan municipality. The Town of Sheboygan owns all of our vehicles, fire station and most of our equipment. The fire department budget is given to our chief each year from the town board.
A long tradition of our fire department is the positive relationship we hold with our town board and it's members. We honor the services given by our town supervisors and board members and continue to work together to offer our residents the best emergency services we can.
Emergency Medical Services Overview
The Town of Sheboygan Volunteer Fire Department is responsible for delivering direct emergency and non-emergency medical services for our residents at the emergency medical responder (formally known as first responder) level of care. Our emergency medical responder unit operates an ambulance that can be used for treating patients on a scene, firefighter rehabilitation services or a safe location for anyone involved in an emergency situation. Our unit works with local ambulance services while providing emergency medical responder services.
Membership with the Town of Sheboygan First Responders is open to all residents of the Town of Sheboygan and surrounding communities. Members must be in relatively good health, pass State-approved First Responder (at minimum) and CPR/AED courses, be willing to be on-call within the limits of the Town of Sheboygan for six, 6-hour shifts per month (at minimum), attend monthly meetings and drills, maintain any certifications through continuing education credits, and have a strong desire to work as a team to help the community. Interested parties should contact the Town Hall at (920) 451-2320 to fill out an application or attend a monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at the Firehouse.
Member Training
From learning how to safely enter a burning building to operating our extrication tools, firefighters learn how to perform all of our life saving services as part of their membership to our department.
Training is paid for by the Town of Sheboygan and firefighters need to complete the required training as defined by our standard operating guidelines. Our members train at Lakeshore Technical College and must complete Firefighter A and B before entering a structure fire. Additional training is always encouraged as there are a lot of courses offered by various schools and organizations.Our EMS volunteers must complete at least Emergency Medical Responder. This course if offered by Lakeshore Technical College.
Members are required to attend at least 20 department training drills throughout the year. New members will be required to complete a proficiency skill check prior to becoming a full member.
Our drills are held on the following schedule:
First and third Monday: 8am
Second and fourth Monday: 6pm
Additional training is held on weekends and other weeknights as needed. As our department offers a wide range of emergency services, thus it's important we train as often as we can.
Our training also focuses on teamwork. Inside a structure fire, a chain of command is vital to the safety of yourself and your crew members. We work diligently on establishing teamwork and command discipline.
The EMS members also train on the third Wednesday of each month. We incorporate firefighter training with our EMS training as there is a lot of situations we respond to that require both services.
Town of Sheboygan Fire Department Apparatus
Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS)
MABAS is a mutual aid organization that has been in existence since the late 1960s. Heavily rooted throughout northern Illinois , MABAS now includes over 750 member fire departments organized within 75 divisions. MABAS first came to Wisconsin in 1987 with the joining of the Village of Pleasant Prairie in Kenosha County . MABAS divisions geographically span the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, and the other states, i.e. Minnesota, Iowa, and Ohio, are considering joining. There are 16 established Wisconsin divisions (as of May 2008) who share MABAS with the 62 divisions established in Illinois .
MABAS includes over 25,000+ firefighters and daily staffed emergency response units including more than 950 fire stations, 1100+ engine companies, 375+ ladder trucks, 800+ ambulances (mostly paramedic capable), 150+ heavy rescue squads, 135+ light rescue squads, and 275+ water tankers. Fire/ EMS reserve (back-up) units account for more than 600 additional emergency vehicles. MABAS also offers specialized operations teams for hazardous materials (HAZMAT), underwater rescue/recovery (DIVE) and above grade/below grade, trench and building collapse rescues, a.k.a. Technical Rescue Teams ( TRT ). An additional element of resource are the certified fire investigators which can be "packaged" as teams for larger incidents requiring complicated and time-consuming efforts for any single agency.
The Town of Sheboygan Fire Department is part of Sheboygan County Division 113 under unit 21.
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to http://www.tsfd.us/
