Lakewood Fire Department is not fully staffed about the chief says he was removed from his duties and the majority of the department quit. PC: Fox 11 Online
OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Town of Lakewood, in northern Oconto County, is going to have to rely on nearby communities for the majority of its fire protection, for now. A large majority of the volunteer firefighters in Lakewood have quit the department.
The fire danger in Oconto County is high, not a good time for one of the rural areas to be without a fire department, but that’s the case in Lakewood.
According to Christopher Thomson, he was the fire chief for the Lakewood Department, until earlier this week. Thomson says the town board removed him from his duties at Monday night’s board meeting.
Following that decision, Thomson says, the majority of the department quit, leaving it with only two volunteers.
Lakewood Town Chair, Scott VanLaanen, said, “There is an on-going investigation by the Sheriff’s Department. Because of that, I am not able to discuss any matters.”
With limited volunteers to man the equipment in Lakewood, there are several other departments in northern Oconto County that will help in the event of an emergency. Those departments make up the Nicolet Fire District.
“If there’s a fire in Lakewood today, there is six agencies that is going to respond on the initial alarm to it and if it’s deemed necessary to escalate that, then we request what is referred to as MABAS which is statewide. There’s never not a coverage of fire protection in the state of Wisconsin,” said Eric Johnson with the Nicolet Fire District.
And since the Nicolet Fire District departments are all volunteer, there is no guarantee a full staff from one community will respond to any given incident — and that’s why these partnerships exist.
Johnson said, “If 30 show up we can take care of business. If three show up, well then, we’re calling from further out for help responding. It’s neighbors helping neighbors.”
Something that will remain in place, no matter how many volunteers make up each department.
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