Wauwatosa Fire Chief Case presented the department’s 2024 annual report to the Common Council, reporting the department ran more than 10,000 emergency calls in 2024 and highlighting program and staffing developments.

Chief Case said about 60% of calls were emergency medical responses and described several initiatives: the department became the first in Wisconsin to carry whole blood on an ambulance for prehospital transfusion, implemented after multi-year work with medical control and Versiti (the blood center); within weeks of the program start the department administered whole blood on a field call. Chief Case said the program was initially grant-funded and that the regional approach to prehospital blood has expanded to other Milwaukee County agencies.

The chief also reviewed recruitment, training and retention. The department hired a large recruit class in 2024 (12 hires), sent two firefighters to paramedic school and reported substantial retirement activity in 2024 (six retirees representing roughly 170 years of experience). Chief Case said recruitment pools are smaller than in earlier years and that nearby departments’ hiring and the City of Milwaukee’s recent change to the state WRS retirement system create competitive pressures.

Chief Case said the department experienced several temporary reductions in apparatus availability in 2025 because of staffing constraints and warned continued budget pressures could lead to further reductions in 2026 absent additional resources. He described administrative staffing limits and said the department is working on succession planning following recent senior retirements and promotions (Assistant Chief Scott Erke retired in early February and Assistant Chief Ryan Stanwood replaced him).

The chief noted the city-partnered consolidation study with West Allis is ongoing; consultants have gathered data and a detailed report is expected mid to late July, with a staff review and anticipated council briefings in September. He also said collective bargaining negotiations are active: a tentative agreement reached in mediation was withdrawn by the union and the process may move to binding arbitration.

Council members thanked the department for emergency response in several high-profile incidents, asked about radio interoperability and capital needs and discussed how best to support fire operations in a constrained budget environment. Chief Case asked the council to consider long-term funding and to avoid micromanaging operational staffing decisions while promising to provide budget requests and data to support staffing and apparatus needs.