NOMINATIONS
We need nominations for EMT of the Year, Firefighter, Member of the year nominees. As of today we only have TWO! We see many posted on Facebook. We need these by March 31 so we can get them evaluated and plaques made.
We also are looking for those individuals that have completed 25, 50 or 60 years of service. Along with any upper management. Captains+ that have retired after serving at least 5 years in a leadership role.
Attached is the form to follow for your nominations. The more you put in the easier it is to evaluate by the committee.
REMINDER the spring meeting and awards banquet is on April 30 at Cascade.
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
Memorial Page
Please see the attached Memorial Page
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
From Chief Jon Cohn:
Not an ordinary pen but one of the pens that will substantially help fund #EMS in Wisconsin via increased Medicaid reimbursements. A big thank you to Amy Loudenbeck for introducing the legislation for Act 228 and as always Danielle Zimmerman for her help behind the scenes (and for sending me a pen from the signing).
Mark Rohlfing formally introduced the “GEMT” concept to me and others in 2016. We tried to gather momentum on and off for the next few years. In 2020, Christopher Anderson and PAAW picked up the momentum; pushing it over the finish line this year. I was grateful to be asked to testify in support of the bill for the Assembly committee in March. Hopeful the necessary changes occur and increased reimbursements start flowing in 2023.
Never count on money, reimbursements alone to fix problems, #EMS also needs to make some structural changes.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
2023 & 2024 Bowling Tournament
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
Memorial Listing
Please look over the attached list. I believe there are more members to honor at our Memorial Service. PLEASE send them to me ASAP!
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
Upcoming Events
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
The Spring meeting and awards banquet is rapidly approaching.
HAVE YOU SENT IN YOUR NOMINEES FOR:
Ronald J. Naab – Secretary
Request for Memorial Honorees listing
2022 Spring Meeting Reservations and Agenda
Plan NOW! We need your reservations prior to April 11 to be assured we can get the food we wish.
DON’T FORGET TO forward the nominees for FF & EMS Meritorious Service, Heroism, 25, 50, & 60 year awardees.
Also need those that have passed away in the past 12 months to honor them during the Memorial Service. We need a picture to go with the service.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
BDFD Training Opportunity
See the attached flier of training being offered by the Beaver Dam Fire Department.
BDFD Fireground Survival Train the Trainer
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
Passing of 53 year Member
Chief Bill Rice has forwarded the following information about 53 year Grafton Fire Department member Alvin Giese passed away February 26, 2022 after a tremendous run serving the people of Grafton as a Firefighter and Fire Officer. There is a visitation and service at St. Paul’s Church in Grafton on Sunday, March 13, 2022. The visitation will be from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. There will be a Fire Department Walk-thru at 1:45 pm. The service will be at 2:00 pm.
Badger members are welcome to join the Walk-thru at 1:45 pm, please be at the church just prior to this time. The church is located at 701 Washington St. (Highway 60) in Grafton.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
Spring 2022 Meeting
Mark your calendars for April 24.
Don’t forget to send your nominees of member of the year, heroism and length of service along with names we will remember at the Memorial Service, see attached.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
139B Deduction
This is for FEDERAL INCOME tax filing only.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
Beechwood Pool Tournament
You like to play pool, CHECK out the upcoming tournament at Beechwood!
2022 16th POOL TOURNAMENT fire and responders
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
CELL: 262-716-7292
Wisconsin Society of Emergency Services Instructors Annual Conference
There is still time to register for this awesome weekend of learning, networking and becoming better leaders at the Wisconsin Society of Emergency Services Instructors Annual Conference.
I hope to see some of you at this very informative conference designed to help us be better leaders and training officers.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving. -Chief Mike West
Ronald J. Naab
Vice President
Wisconsin Society of Emergency Services Instructors
CELL: 262-716-7292
Retirement
Passing of Past Chief
Chief Tony Burgard of Richfield Fire Company has advised us the passing of past Chief Dick Becker:
Please let me know if you can help out, looking to have a heavy showing of uniformed personnel for the walk-through. Dick was a part of the fire service since he was 16 years old, and served as Chief of the Bark Lake Fire Department before consolidation with the Richfield Volunteer Fire Company.
Saturday, January 29th
2022 Awards Banquet Nomination Form
The following was posted by the Wisconsin State Firefighters Association:
Wisconsin State Firefighters Assn.
You will probably recall that our association and the National Volunteer Fire Council worked hard for several years to get an exclusion from federal income tax of a portion of the fire department wages that you earn. With income tax season once more upon us, it seems like a good time to remind everyone to take advantage of what is known as the section 139B exclusion to exclude up to $600 of fire department wages from federal income tax. In order to do so, the W-2 form preparer must determine eligibility and prepare your W-2 form accordingly. This exclusion should be reflected by reducing the amount shown in Box 1 (Wages, tips, other comp.) by the eligible amount of the exclusion, up to $600. Also, no Social Security or Medicare tax should be withheld from the excluded amount.
Because this is a federal-only exemption, the full amount of your fire department wages should be reported in Box 16 (State wages, tips, etc.). In other words, Boxes 1 and 16 will not match. Also, entering “139B” and the amount excluded in Box 14 will help the IRS understand the reason for the difference.
This is a hard won and valuable benefit. Don’t miss out on it.
Ronald Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
WFEM Summer Maintenance
| Mineral Point LODD Watch Detail – Funeral Home | |||||
| Location | Gorgen-McGinley & Ayers Funeral Home | ||||
| 400 East Grace Street, Dodgeville, WI 53533 | |||||
| Duty | This is Guard Detail at the funeral home until time of enternment. Limit of 2 Guards per rotation. Guard Period lasts 4 hours. | ||||
| Parking | Parking at the funeral home is available outside front doors. Doors may be locked. Please knock to have members standing watch let you in. | ||||
| Uniform | Class B/Station Wear – PLEASE LOOK PRESENTABLE | ||||
Please note if your name was on here and is now removed due to the funeral arrangements being made please feel free to sign up for an open shift at the church. The individuals that were at the funeral home on 1/13 at 19:00 through 07:00 on 1/14 have been moved to the church. If you need to remove that feel free. I just moved you over there to be utilized as watch.
LODD Firefighter James “Jim” Ludlum; Mineral Point Fire Department; DOD 01-06-2022
(LODD – Trauma)
https://www.gorgenfh.com/obituaries/James-Jim-Ludlum/#!/Obituary
LODD Captain Brian C. Busch; Mineral Point Fire Department: DOD 01-06-2022 (LODD – Trauma)
https://www.gorgenfh.com/obituaries/Brian-Busch-2/#!/Obituary
Ronald Naab
Chief Sarauer passed away on December 31, 2021. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony on January 12, 2022.
Chief Sarauer was a valued member of our team and served the West Bend community from 1969 – 2000. He will be missed.
Please keep his daughters and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Next to creating a life, the finest thing a man can do is save one [Abe Lincoln],
Ronald Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
Attached are the minutes of the meeting on November 6 with reports from:
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of former Saukville Fire Department Chief Glenn Dickmann. Chief Dickmann was a member of Saukville Fire Department for over 30 years and was the fire chief from 1988-1999. Chief Dickmann dedicated his life to the Saukville community, not only at the fire department but as an employee of the Village of Saukville Department of Public Works for over 40 years. Chief Dickmann will be greatly missed by the Saukville Fire Department and the Saukville community.
The family will be holding a private funeral service. You may make memorials to either entities: Friends of the Saukville Fire Department or to the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial.
Ronald Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
From: Jill Raffay
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2021 6:50 AM
To: Paul Stephans
Subject: RE: EMResource – Air Medical/Hospital Comms – Region 7
Notification came out today that MARC 2 is being dedicated for use only in the Kenosha area until further notice. The alternate channel recommendation for landing zones is EMS C or Fire Ground Blue. I spoke with FFL and they advised that should they be called to a scene, they will communicate with ground units on EMS C.
While the Fire Departments normally handle the landing zones, should you need it you can also access EMS C in the Accident or MABAS zone.
Please tell everyone they can come in from the east on 67 without any problems. I have not yet confirmed as I taught class last night in Beaver Dam but paving was supposed to start yesterday starting at Y heading west. You can get across the bridge without any problems. Even if not paved yet you can still get into the front parking lot as well.
Thank You
Chief Craig J. OlsonCampbellsport Fire Department548 E. Main StreetP.O. Box 709Campbellsport, WI 53010Telephone: 920-533-5266Web Site: www.campbellsportfire.com Email: colson@campbellsportfire.com
REMINDER the Annual Meeting of the Badger Firefighters Association is to be held on Sunday, November 7th. We need your meal registrations by October 30 to plan accordingly.
262/629-9749 home
The Horicon Fire Department is sad to announce that on September 14th, Capt. Marc (Bucks) Zuelsdorf passed away peacefully after a year long battle with ALS.
Marc was an active member of the department for over 45 years.
We ask that you keep his family in your prayers.
There will be a memorial gathering at Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam on Saturday, September 25th from 10am – 2pm. See the funeral home website for the complete obituary (www.KoepsellFH.com).
Fire department members who would like to show their respect, please meet at the funeral home at 10:45am to walk through as a group at 11am.
Mark Tesch
Horicon Fire Chief
FROM ADELL FIRE DEPARTMENT:
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Jan Habeck. 50 years by the side of Ret. Chief Bill Habeck 33 years as Chief and years as the secretary of our department, her support and dedication did not go unnoticed. Adell Fire Dept. will honor her with a walk thru Friday at 4:45p, Any departments attending we will be meeting at 4:30p at the Ernisse Funeral Home 1167 Washington Ave., Cedarburg.
WHAT WERE YOU DOING THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001?
What were you doing the morning of September 11, 2001? Were you born yet? As we reflect what happened twenty years ago on what some the second day of infamy, let us not forget those responded to help those in the towers of the World Trade Center. This day of infamy, changed the lives of all of us in the United States and around the world. The lives of 351 first responders changed forever!
According to John Sponholtz, “There is a pod cast by a pair of retired FDNY members, Lieutenant Lou Rufrano and Kevin Kubler, members of Special Operations Command (SOC). On one episode, there was a discussion of that day, and how difficult it was to grieve the many lost members (SOC was particularly devastated), start the search of the rubble, figure out how to cover the city with the remaining manpower and equipment, and check on their own families. Where would one start?
Lt. Rufrano was succinct answering the question of what was the hardest part of that day. Both Kevin and Lou were members of Squad 288 which is housed with Haz-Mat 1 in Queens and responded. From this station alone, nineteen members were lost on the morning of 9/11. Let that sink in for a minute – 19. That is a staggering number for a two-company house. One of the problems was that this all happened just as the shifts were changing in all New York fire houses, so the compliment of members on each apparatus was greater than usual and the tracking and accountability was not done to normal procedures. The normal riding lists were recorded per usual, plus extra members also responded.
Lou’s story brought tears to many that were reading the blog, as he recounted looking at the apparatus floor later, at the nineteen pairs of shoes, sets of two strewn about where his brothers had stepped out of them and into their bunker hitches, never to return. One of the methods utilized to establish who was missing and unaccounted for was the shoes.”
From this story Ron Naab and John Sponholtz created a special ceremony to remember these heroes of the Fire Department of New York not only on September 11, 2001, they were heroes every call that the jumped out of their shoes and into their bunker hitches. The goal is to collect at least 351 pair of slightly used, preferably new shoes. These pairs of shoes will be set on the sidewalks of the Wisconsin Firefighters and EMS Memorial as a memorial to honor the 343 firefighters of the New York Fire Department and 8 Emergency Medical Technicians that responded to help. These heroes made the Ultimate Sacrifice.
The goal is that these pairs of shoes will be taken to King Veterans Home (near Waupaca) and the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program at Chippewa Falls, Green Bay, and Union Grove for our veterans living in these facilities.
Gordie Boucher-West Bend has teamed up with Ron Naab of the Allenton Vol. Fire Department and American Legion Post 483 to allow those that would like to support this noble venture by being a collection site for the these shoes. The shoes can be taken to Gordie Boucher Saturday, Monday or Tuesday during their hours of a special sales program they are holding.
Cedarburg Fire Department held an Ice Rescue class recently which was open to all
first responders in Ozaukee County. Other departments participating were Grafton Fire
Department, Mequon Fire Department, Waubeka Fire-Rescue, and Port Washington
Fire Department. Many reported this was a great training event.
The Hartford American Legion Post #19 announced their 2020 Hartford Fire Fighter and EMT of the Year awardees on March 4th. This year’s winners are Fire Fighter Brian Wolters and EMT Katie Feiter. Both members of the Hartford Fire and Rescue Department were recognized for their exemplary performance and leadership in their rolls of serving the public. Brian has been with the department since 2014 and currently serves as Fire Lieutenant and as the Department’s fire training officer. Katie also started with the department in 2014 and serves as both a fire fighter and an EMT and is currently finishing her studies to become a paramedic.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of retired Port Washington Firefighter, Jeff Plier. Jeff served on the department from May 1980 until June 2000. He is the son of retired Assistant Chief Franklin (Joe) Plier and the brother of former member Ron Plier. He is survived by his wife, Pam and son Chris, as well as his parents Joe and Kathy, sisters Lisa and Jill, brother Ron, and many nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 6:30PM on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Mary’s Church site (451 N. Johnson St. Port Washington, WI 53074). Fr. Patrick Wendt will preside over the Mass. Visitation will take place at Eernisse Funeral Home Port Washington on Wednesday from 3:00-6:00PM. There will be a Fire Department walk through at the funeral home at 5:30PM. Per Chief Mark Mitchell.
Ronald Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
At this time the Spring Banquet/Awards Program is questionable. We are still determining if and how we can proceed to keep the event meaningful and safe. The tentative date is April 25th.
Reminder, that we would like to honor those of your department with awards for the following accomplishments:
FROM SAUKVILLE FIRE DEPT.:
It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of retired Saukville Fire Department Lieutenant Richard Schoenfeldt. Dick dedicated 50 years of his life to the Saukville Fire Department and helping those of this community. Anyone that knew Dick, knew he took immense pride in his time and commitment to the fire service.
One of his greatest accomplishments in his tenure with SFD was the time he spent coordinating the 9/11 parades for Ozaukee County that were hosted by Saukville Fire Department. Dick spent many, many hours every year putting together a new program. If you were ever part of one, you know the time commitment required to put those parades, and the ceremony following, together.
Dick will forever be missed by the Saukville fire community. We wish the deepest of sympathies to his family during this difficult time.
I personally had the opportunity to interact with Dick in the past. He was the epitome of serving your community and country. R.I.P. Lieutenant.
Ronald Naab
Secretary
Badger Firefighters Association
