The Wisconsin State Journal
MADISON, Wis. — After 75 years of service, the town of Blooming Grove Fire Department will take its last calls next month.
The town board of Blooming Grove approved 3-1 a tentative agreement Tuesday that would dissolve the fire department July 1 and transfer fire coverage to the Madison Fire Department.
The move is part of a gradual process to transition the town into the city. A 2005 boundary agreement calls for Blooming Grove to be completely annexed into the city on Oct. 31, 2027, with several smaller, pre-scheduled annexations in the interim.
This year, the city will annex portions of the town along Sprecher and Cottage Grove roads.
Blooming Grove’s department is small, staffing three people on its fire engine and two on its ambulance at any given time. Its workforce consists of 47 firefighters, most of whom are volunteers or paid on call or on premises, said Fire Chief Glenn Linzmeier.
The department had four full-time employees, but with discussions ongoing to fold the town into Madison’s coverage area, three left for other careers and the town opted not to fill those positions. The other full-time employee will join the city fire department, Linzmeier said.
“There’s been some discussion between the municipalities, definitely at the fire level and above somewhat, looking at how to do a very well-staged approach to bringing some of these services into the city and making sure the city manages the town’s liabilities,” Linzmeier said.
The town will primarily be served by Madison’s Fire Station No. 5 at 4418 Cottage Grove Road, but with pockets of the town spread out throughout the East Side, Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis said fire coverage to the town will be the responsibility of five or six stations.
“I don’t have any concerns. It accelerates the inevitable — the 2027 date when all of Blooming Grove comes into the city. It actually gives us the ability to plan a little better long-term as to what the city might look like then,” Davis said. “The call volume is so small that we can absorb it.”
Some residents raised concerns about coverage in parts of the town without hydrants, but Linzmeier and Davis said those are handled in mutual aid agreements between various fire departments throughout the county.
“The Blooming Grove residents are going to get the same type of response as residents in the city of Madison that are on the peripheral of these properties,” Linzmeier said.
Davis said his department will immediately begin training with its partner departments that provide rural water service.
Blooming Grove opened a new fire station on Stoughton Road in 2011, but Linzmeier said there are no immediate plans to transfer the station or any of its equipment to the city.
Under the agreement, Madison will also provide fire safety inspections, reviews and community education. Blooming Grove will pay the city $75,000 a year through 2020. Payments will jump to around $222,000 in 2021, increasing slightly each year until 2027 when the annexation is complete.
The agreement will be introduced to the Madison City Council on Tuesday and then reviewed by the city’s Board of Estimates and Public Safety Review Committee. Davis doesn’t anticipate any obstacles to the agreement’s approval.
Linzmeier will remain on the town payroll during the transition.
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