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As the City of Sheboygan grew in
size and complexity over the past 150 years, the Sheboygan
Fire Department grew with it. By 1969, the staffing of the
Sheboygan Fire Department had reached 90 sworn fire department
personnel. In 1969, the Sheboygan Fire Department protected
9.5 square miles and responded to 551 incidents. In 1975, the
department was reorganized to 88 sworn fire department
personnel and the downsizing of the department
began. The department remained at that level until it was
reorganized in the late 1980’s to 77 sworn personnel. In late
2005 and early 2006, the Sheboygan Fire Department reduced the
sworn fire personnel to 75 personnel following the deletions
of a Deputy Chief and Fire Inspector positions. In 2008,
three additional firefighter/paramedic positions were added to
effectively implement Sheboygan’s new paramedic ambulance
service.
The City of Sheboygan has
continued to grow over the past 30 years. This expansion
has included many housing developments, two industrial parks,
a major lakefront development, and new annexations and
projects. The Sheboygan Fire Department’s staffing, on
the other hand, has continued to drop. At our current
levels, the Sheboygan Fire Department staffing levels have
dropped about 18% since 1969. In 2002, our department
responded to approximately 2400 incidents and protected 14.5
square miles, which is an increase in protection area of over
50% and more than a fourfold increase in incidents responded
to. By 2007, the Sheboygan Fire Department will be
responsible for protecting over 15 square miles of area, over
2 billion dollars worth of assessed property value and nearly
51,000 residents. In 2007, our department responded to
in excess of 2900 incidents and the relative number of
responses within our community appears to be growing annually.
Since 1975, the number of job
responsibilities has increased extensively. Today, we are
responsible for providing services in the following areas |
Fire