By Tom Kertscher
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
HALES CORNERS, Wis. — The Fire Department has hired a man who is believed to be the department’s first African-American firefighter and who is one of very few African-American firefighters in the Milwaukee County suburbs.
Terry A. Bell, 30, of Milwaukee is one of three part-time firefighters being hired by the department, Fire Chief Michael Jankowski said Monday.
Bell said he also works for the Pewaukee, Menomonee Falls and Town of Brookfield fire departments, all in Waukesha County.
Bell is believed to be one of only two African-American firefighters who work in the Milwaukee County suburbs. A Journal Sentinel survey in May found there was one African-American firefighter among the more than 600 firefighters working for the 11 fire departments that serve Milwaukee County’s 18 suburbs.
That full-time firefighter, Mike Wright, had been hired nine months earlier by the West Allis Fire Department.
Wauwatosa Fire Chief Dean Redman said one African-American is rated among the top 12 applicants that would be considered first for a position with his department. But budget constraints likely mean no hiring will be done until possibly fall 2010, he said.
The Milwaukee Fire Department recently received a record 5,743 applications for firefighter positions.
One-third of the applicants were African-American, said Michael Tobin, executive director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. African-Americans represent 12.6% of firefighters in Milwaukee. About 50 of the applicants will be offered jobs in October, Tobin said.
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