FDL Fire & Rescue 2020 Budget Includes New Positions

Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue is asking for six additional
firefighter/paramedic positions as part of its 2020 budget request. Fire Chief
Peter O’Leary made the department’s budget presentation to the Fond du Lac City
Council last week and said that the number of calls for service continue to grow,
and they expect that trend to continue. “We asked our GIS department as part of
our accreditation to see if they could do some simple graphs as to where they
think we might be by 2022,” O’Leary said. “Right now we’re averaging about 20
calls a day, and by 2023 we will be at over 11,000 calls – or 27 a day. That’s a
big number, and if the trend of the last five years continues, we’re going to
need some help, for sure.” Data shows total responses have increased by
30-percent in the last five years, with a total of 1,157 fire calls and 6,094 ambulance
calls in 2018. In addition to the six new positions in 2020, the department is
continuing to work toward re-accreditation and will have a scheduled ladder
truck replacement.