Fire Department Debating Which Station To Reopen

Milwaukee Fire Department fire engine. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) finds itself in an usual place in planning to add more personnel next year.

That includes reactivating a shuttered engine company and adding a 13th advanced life support (ALS) medical unit.

Thaks in large part to Act 12, which granted the city a new sales tax and a shared revenue increase, MFD’s budget would increase by $14.4 million under the 2024 budget to $146 million, an 11% increase.

The daily staffing level in the department would increase from 192 to 198. There are currently 802 members of the department, including non-sworn members, according to a budget presentation slide.

“That’s a huge win,” said fire chief Aaron Lipski to Finance & Personnel Committee during his department’s budget hearing on Oct. 11. “It’s no small matter for this fire department, it’s no small matter for this city, that I’m in the extremely fortunate position to sit here and be able to even have a conversation about adding personnel to the fire department and opening fire stations back up. I feel like I’ve been a broken record for a long time, pushing back in the other direction.”

But the question is now what station to reopen. The city has shuttered several in recent years.

“We are stuck between at least three of the stations right now,” said Lipski, noting he anticipated making a decision within the next week.

Lipski said MFD is considering reactivating either Engine 6 (1693 N. Franklin Pl., closed 2017), Engine 17 (4653 S. 13th St., closed 2021) or Engine 31 (2400 S. 8th St., closed 2018).

“The reason with these rising to the top right off the bat has a lot to do with the heat mapping,” said the chief of geographic mapping of calls for service and the frequency of such calls.

“Definitely a positive conversation this time around,” said committee chair Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.

The department has experience with making such a decision. “Shutting down the stations occurred under the exact same analysis,” said Lipski. He said the department would analyze geographic distribution, call locations, response times and building availability in making its decision.

Other options include Engine 3 (100 W. Virginia St., closed 2018, now part of adjacent repair shop), Engine 5 (1313 W. Reservoir Ave., closed 2018) and Engine 25 (300 S. 84th St., closed 2018).

Engine 28, 424 N. 30th St., was previously shuttered, but reopened earlier this year under a service-sharing agreement with the City of Wauwatosa. The suburban community relocated an engine company to a city fire station at 100 N. 64th St. reducing its response times and resulting in MFD being able to relocate its engine to the shuttered Engine 28 station.

A service-sharing agreement has Milwaukee County fire departments responding to calls across borders on a regular basis based on availability and severity.

“We are also hosting a North Shore ladder truck in a different location,” said Lipski. “It has allowed for not only stability, but for growth to occur.”

Lipski said the North Shore Fire Department relocation was “really a matter of they’re having a fire station being rebuilt,” but that it still was producing a benefit for the city.

The city has more flexibility in placing its new ALS ambulance unit.

“We can go just about anywhere with the Med unit. It doesn’t have to ride with that engine,” said Lipski. “I am less certain on where I would plug in that paramedic unit because I have way more options. I’m not limited to what’s previously been closed.”

MFD has seen its call volumes and response times increase in recent years, which Lipski has repeatedly warned is causing personnel burnout.

A total of 77% of the MFD runs are currently for emergency medical services, down from a recent historical average of 84%. “With all of the run totals going up, this represents a fairly dramatic increase in the number of fire responses,” said the chief.

Act 12 requires the city to reach a daily staffing level of 218, which would require adding approximately 93 full-time members.

Ambulance Service Rebounding

Milwaukee’s basic life support (BLS) ambulance service crisis appears to have abated.

In April 2021, one of the three remaining private ambulance services informed the city it was terminating its contract and service quality degraded before the company exited the market.

Faced with stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates, private operators were leaving the market. City officials instituted a subsidy to keep the remaining providers under contract, but at the cost of millions of dollars annually, added BLS units to the MFD roster and worked to train more personnel.

The plan, at least for now, is working.

“We have now achieved dramatically reduced turnback rates from the remaining providers. We have achieved far more predictably and consistency in the system,” said Lipski.

A state-endorsed long-term solution, known as the ground emergency medical transport (GEMT) supplement payment program, would increase reimbursement payments and reduce the city’s financial burden. But the federal government has not formally endorsed the proposal, and might not for some time.

“We are in a queue behind other cities,” said Lipski of the state’s request. “The good news remains that, back to January 1 of this year, we will be able to retro-bill for anything that is eligible for GEMT or the reimbursement portion of that.”

“We aren’t going to see it for a while,” said budget director Nik Kovac of the funding. “We might see it next year, but we might not see it in time to recognize it for the [2025] budget.”

“We keep immaculate billing records,” said Assistant Chief Joshua Parish of the city’s preparation work to eventually get reimbursed.

A formula-based approach would see the city and private providers reimbursed for Medicaid ambulance runs, which could reduce or eliminate the subsidy the city needs to provide to the private providers and provide new revenue to the city.

Lipski said MFD is making progress on more shared service agreements with neighboring communities, including possibly joint purchasing agreements and shared repaired services. “That could ultimately be a revenue generator for the City of Milwaukee,” said the chief.