Future of the Fire Department

Moving the Fire Department Forward

Village officials and the Village Board continue to study and discuss options to continue to provide the highest level of Fire and Emergency Medical Services to our residents, businesses, and institutions. Discussions and studies are underway to determine the best way to move the Fire Department forward in a time when many Fire and EMS departments including the Thiensville Fire Department continue to have challenges recruiting and retaining volunteers and paid-on-call employees and municipalities face current and future budget constraints.

Submit a Feedback and Comments Form 

Thiensville Fire Department Annual Reports

2021 & 2022 Recruitment and Retention Statistics

Important Meeting Dates

Board of Trustees 6:00 PM, Monday, April 18  Presentation from Joint Working Group (Agenda)

Committee of the Whole 6:00 PM, Monday, May 2 Public Comment Period

All Meeting Dates 

Thiensville Mequon Joint Fire & EMS Working Group

The City of Mequon and the Village of Thiensville agreed in December 2021 to formally establish a Joint Fire & EMS Working Group comprised of each municipality’s Chief Elected Official, Administrator, Fire Chief and Deputy Chief to establish the necessary framework by which the two communities can study consolidating into one, unified entity under the jurisdiction of a combined governing board. In establishing the framework by which the Mequon and Thiensville Fire & EMS Departments and other departments  may consolidate into one new entity, the Joint Working Group will include an examination of the following topic areas, among others, within its work:

Governance Administration/ManagementFinance (Budgeting, Revenues, etc.)
StaffingEquipmentFacilities
Emergency DispatchResponse TimesFuture Growth/Needs


Establishing the Joint Working Group


City of Mequon Committee of the Whole 4-12-2022

City of Mequon Committee of the Whole Meeting 4-12-2022 (Video)

Board of Trustees 6:00 PM, Monday, April 18 

(Agenda)

Staff Memo (Includes Intergovernmental Agreement Summary)

Joint Working Group Powerpoint Presentation

Draft Southern Ozaukee County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department Agreement

Staffing Plan and Projected Budget

DRAFT 4-18-22 Board of Trustees Minutes

Committee of The Whole 6:00 PM, Monday, May 2

(Agenda)

Board of Trustees 6:00 PM, Monday, May 16

(Agenda)


Thiensville Fire Department Full Time Staff Operational Scenarios

Thiensville Administrative staff and Fire Department Command staff prepared and presented a report to the Village Board In January 2022. The report outlines the budget implications of a full-time 24/7 365 department supplemented by paid on-premise and paid-on-call staff. The budget scenarios are based on the minimum amount of staff on a shift to operate a fire or ambulance crew according to state and federal regulations. The report outlines low, mid, and high budgets. The low is based on current comparable Village of Thiensville wages, the mid is an average of local career fire departments, and the high is based on area departments currently competitively seeking employees in a sparse market. The smallest municipality in the state that independently operates a career department has a population of 11,000. Staff also noted that our current facilities do not support more than 2 staff staying at the department at one time.

Independent Thiensville Fire Department Operational Scenarios

Village Board Minutes January 17, 2022

Committee of the Whole Minutes March 7, 2022

All Minutes and Agendas  

Ozaukee County Fire and EMS Working Group

Concurrent with the consideration of a Thiensville-only option and the Joint Mequon Thiensville working group, Chief Elected Officials, Administrators, Fire Chiefs, the Ozaukee County Sheriff, and Ozaukee County officials continue to meet as a working group to study the various countywide options outlined in the Wisconsin Policy Forum report. 

Ozaukee Press 11/9/2021 - Sheriff is working on plan to direct Covid-19 relief funds to departments in need of paramedics

News Graphic 3/22/2022 - Ozaukee County Sheriff presents his EMS staffing plan to County Board

Ozaukee Press 4/6/2022 - County poised to act on $5 million EMS plan

Capture Front Page


Ozaukee County Communities Complete Phase I Feasibility

Analysis of Fire & EMS Service Sharing Opportunities

Following an eight-month study of potential service-sharing opportunities across nine (9) paid on-call fire departments in Ozaukee County, the Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF)  released a report outlining the results of its independent analysis. The report, entitled First Response: Addressing Fire & Emergency Medical Service Challenges in Ozaukee County, represents a Phase I feasibility analysis on behalf of the ten separate jurisdictions that initiated the review. Participating communities included the Cities of Cedarburg, Mequon and Port Washington, the Towns of Belgium and Cedarburg, the Villages of Fredonia, Grafton, Saukville and Thiensville, and Waubeka. 

Press Release

Full Report

Report Brief

Policy Forum Presentation Minutes May 3, 2021

Open House Minutes June 7, 2021