Little sleep and a dizzying number of emergency calls have led to burnout among Onalaska’s firefighters and first responders. They are looking to the common council for help.
“You sit down to eat a meal and you look across the table at your wife and say `Sorry I got to go,’ ” Jim Mason said.
“I wanted to do something for the community,” Mason said. “We’re not going to walk out on the community.”
Calls for service have risen from 119 in 1981 to 437 in 1996. The burden is increased because there may be no calls for two days and then the next day there could be six in a row, said Mason, a cellular tower technician.
A special committee was assigned to study the staffing issue. In July, the committee recommended hiring more full-time firefighters and first responders. A special council meeting has been called for Monday at City Hall to address the staffing issue.
The Onalaska Fire Department has 32 firefighters, but only two are full-time employees. Of the 32, about 18 also are first responders.
