Study Finds ½ of Wisconsin Fire Chiefs Don’t Have Enough Funds for Their Departments

Fire Truck (PC: Fox 11 Online)

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WRN) — Half of Wisconsin’s fire chiefs say they don’t have the financial resources to cover their department’s budgets.

New research from the Whitburn Center for Governance and Policy Research at UW-Oshkosh also shows that over 10% of the state’s fire departments had at least one instance last year of not responding to a service call.

The survey of nearly 200 fire chiefs found a rise in service calls, staffing shortages, and inadequate budgets among the top concerns facing fire departments.

One option is consolidating resources with other departments, but such action would require a change in state law.