By Anne Jungen
The La Crosse Tribune
GALESVILLE, Wis. — The practice of cracking open a beer at the Galesville Fire Station has been extinguished.
Galesville Fire Chief Dan Henderson said he pushed to put the kibosh on brewskies inside the volunteer fire department’s station to increase public safety and department professionalism.
Stocked refrigerators are found in a “significant amount” of volunteer fire departments, Henderson said.
“It’s kind of traditional ... you go out and work hard, then come back and have a beer,” he said. “But you always run that chance of having another call.”
Henderson, among the most senior members of the department with 19 years, yanked the department’s stock of beer his second month in office in January 2007.
“I stacked it inside the front door of the fire station, put a ‘free’ sign on it, and it disappeared,” he said. “I didn’t announce it, I just did it.”
Then in October, Henderson approached the Galesville Fire Department Fire Board at its annual budget meeting with an action item to make the fire station alcohol-free. It passed 4-0.
“I explained to them the beer was gone, and I wanted to make sure it stayed gone,” he said. “There was no discussion, everyone was very agreeable.”
State laws don’t prohibit impaired volunteer firefighters from operating equipment, with the exception of driving vehicles, Henderson said.
An unwritten rule of not responding to a fire if under the influence always been clear, Henderson said. But the alcohol-free policy at the station eliminates any risk, he said.
“There area no delays in judgment,” he said. “It also made it clear if alcohol is not allowed in the building, it’s clearly not acceptable to show up if you had one drink.”
Violators could put their membership in jeopardy, Henderson said.
He plans to ask the Galesville City Council adopt a formal ordinance this summer banning alcohol at the station.
About 70 percent of Henderson’s department — mostly younger firefighters — approved of the policy, while the more senior members didn’t handle the change as well. They questioned the chief’s motives and predicted membership would decline.
“I don’t think we lost anyone for that reason,” Henderson said.
In fact, the department now has 28 members, compared with 24 when the policy was passed.
Henderson said he hopes other fire departments follow Galesville’s lead.
The La Crescent Fire Department in Minnesota has a zero tolerance policy, said Chief Bernie Buehler. Town of Shelby, Wis., Fire Chief Randy Roeck said the department banished alcohol from the building in 2000. The Arcadia, Wis., Fire Department does not regularly stock beer or alcohol in the station, but it can be brought in for special events, such as fundraisers, said Chief Jeff Halvorsen.
When Jeff Rand was elected Trempealeau, Wis., Fire Chief in January 2005 by the 30-member volunteer department, he decided to phase out the station’s beer supply.
“I don’t feel there’s a place for that in our line of work,” he said.
But Rand now believes that was one of the reasons he was voted out as chief in January 2006.
The beer has since returned, he said. “There are two fridges at the station,” he said, “and one is fully stocked.”
Copyright (c) 2008
La Crosse Tribune, Wis.