You may have seen news stories in the Daily Union and Watertown Times about the decline in volunteers locally to answer the calls for help. If you may have seen our own signs here in Jefferson regarding how you can join our ranks.

Both sides of our organization are seeking members to join our ranks. I would like to remind citizens that the Jefferson Fire Department is a predominately Volunteer organization, meaning that a majority of the members of the department, including me, the Chief, have Full-Time jobs elsewhere!  We then volunteer our time in service to the community on the Fire Department. In 2023, through a referendum, we were approved to hire five personnel to fill the ask from the community. 

Jefferson Emergency Medical Service (JEMS) operates with five full-time career Paramedics and approximately 25 additional “Paid on Call” or “Paid on Premises” staff with license levels from EMT-Basic, EMT-Advanced and Paramedic.  POC/POP staff have full-time jobs elsewhere, like the volunteer firefighter, and vary on hours available to cover shift scheduled openings.

Today, we have vacant member positions from our authorized staff in the fire department. On the EMS side, we compete for help with other EMS organizations throughout the area and state.  Wages and Benefits guide candidate choices in employment.  Educational requirements in EMS are substantial.

Fire Department

Here are the Volunteer members of the Jefferson Fire Department. This is an extremely dedicated group of people/firefighters that answer the call to serve here in Jefferson.  I am incredibly proud to call them my brothers and sisters, so let me introduce to you JFD, and who they are:

COMMAND STAFF

• Chief/EMT-B: Ron Wegner: Loss Prevention Manager/Property Specialist, West Bend Mutual Insurance 

• Asst. Chief: Tim Dorn: Supervisor, Jones Dairy Farm 

• Asst. Chief/EMT-B: Shaun Bauer: Part-time Spangler Seed Co, Firefighter/EMT, North Shore (retired)

• Asst. Chief/AEMT: Jerry Wendt: Painter Ashburn Bucket & Brush

• Captain: Willy Niebler:  City of Jefferson DPW

• Captain: Jason Haas: Employment Recruiter

• Captain/EMT-B: Kip Kopelke: Sr. Sales Engineer, SPS Commerce

• Captain: Brady Ramseier: Athletic Director, Johnson Creek High School

• Captain: Matt Hay: Systems Designer, CC&N

• Captain/EMT-B: Nash Niesen: Career Firefighter/EMT, City of Wauwatosa Fire Dept 

APPARATUS OPERATORS

• Driver Engine 1: Ryan Schroedl: Operator, City of Whitewater Sewer Treatment Plant

• Driver Engine 2: Justin Schreiner: Equipment Operator, D.F. Tomasini Sewer & Water Contractors 

• Driver Engine 3: Tony Land: HVAC / Refrigeration Specialist, University of Wisconsin 

• Driver Brush 5/Paramedic: Bryce Wegner: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson Fire & EMS 

• Driver Squad 6/EMT-B: John Gotto: Biology Teacher, Jefferson High School

• Driver Tender 10: Mitch Schuenke: Owner, Red Line Barbeque 

• Driver Tender 11: Andrew Voight: Foreman, City of Jefferson DPW

• Driver Ladder 12: DuWayne Raduege: Plumber, S&S Plumbing

MEMBERSHIP

• Firefighter: Steve Adams: Retired

• Firefighter: LaVern Meng: Retired

• Firefighter: Carol Wedl: Retired

• Firefighter: Tom Ramseier: Retired

• Firefighter: Dave Bente: Plant Assistant Manager, Cargill Animal Nutrition 

• Firefighter: Curt Hebbe: Water Department Operator, City of Jefferson 

• Firefighter: Matt Hein: Driver, Lycon Inc.  

• Firefighter: Rob Logemann: Service Technician, Bob's Pool Builders

• Firefighter: Keith Boucher:  Engineering Manager, Electro-night Inc. 

• Firefighter: Brady Wendt: Career Firefighter/EMT  City of Wauwatosa Fire Dept

• Firefighter: Ryan David: Driver, Johns Disposal

• Firefighter/Paramedic: Logan Wegner: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson

• Firefighter/EMT-B: Emily Boucher: Student, University of Wisconsin La Crosse

• Firefighter/EMT-B: Mike Stratmoen: Equipment Operator, United Electric

• Firefighter: Brady Krull: Student, Jefferson High School

• Firefighter/Paramedic: Joe Mildenstein: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson Fire & EMS

• Firefighter/AEMT: Joel Theder: Firefighter/Inspector, City of Jefferson & EMS

• Firefighter/Paramedic: Jim Phillips: Paramedic, City of Elm Grove Fire Dept

• Firefighter/AEMT: Jessica Kessler: AEMT, Bell Ambulance Service

• Firefighter/AEMT: Taylor Zache: Student, Mercy Hospital Paramedic Program

• Firefighter/Paramedic: Kiana Gosh: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson Fire & EMS

• Firefighter: Connor Salerno: Public Works Crewman, City of Jefferson DPW

• Apprentice Firefighter: Blake Hummelmeier: Laborere, United Electric 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Bailey Gosh: Radiology Tech, Watertown Hospital 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Terrence (TJ) Otto: Laborere, Hard Rock Sawing & Drilling

• Apprentice Firefighter: Sam Gambill: Tree Trimmer, Two Guys Trimming

• Apprentice Firefighter: Cris Lita: CDL Delivery Driver, ABC Supply Co. 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Jesus Alcantara: Paramedic, Ryan Brothers 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Amanda Hicks: AEMT, Bell Ambulance Service Milwaukee 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Olivia Miller: Student, Jefferson High School 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Owen Tully: Fiedelity Land Title 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Grant Schneider: Jefferson Speedway

Emergency Medical Services

Jefferson EMS is a publicly funded fire department-based EMS service that began in 2001. We currently serve the city of Jefferson, Town of Jefferson, Town of Hebron, Town of Oakland, and Town of Farmington. Our total population of citizens served is 10,253. We provide 9-1-1 Advanced life support with three ambulances and a paramedic intercept vehicle. We also provide ALS and BLS transports. Service was provided for 1,456 ambulance calls in 2024. Jefferson EMS operates under the Mercy Health Organization protocols.

We offer:

• Competitive wages of $16.97/hr POC/POP for EMT-B, $19.10/hr POC/POP for EMT-A, and $24.40/hr POC/POP for EMT-P

• In-house monthly training counting towards license refresher hours

• Clinical class time

• Ride alongs

• Job shadow

• School sponsorship opportunities

• In-house BLS CPR, ACLS, PALS

We are looking to hire POP/POC at every license level, so apply here!

Our team comprises one volunteer Fire Chief, one part-time EMS director, five full-time firefighter/paramedics, two full-time paramedics, two positions currently vacant, and 34 paid-on-premise / paid-on-call staff. 

LEADERSHIP

• Fire Chief: Ron Wegner - EMT

• EMS Director: Sue Reinen -AEMT

FULL-TIME STAFF

• Amy Ross – Paramedic

• Megan Kastern – Paramedic

• Bryce Wegner – Paramedic/Firefighter

• Logan Wegner – Paramedic/Firefighter

• Kiana Gosh – Paramedic/Firefighter

• Joel Theder – AEMT/Firefighter/Fire Inspector 

• Joe Mildenstein – Paramedic/Firefighter/Fire Inspector

PAID ON CALL/PAID ON PREMISE STAFF

Paramedic EMT Level

• Amy Ross - EMT-P

• Brandyn Frye – EMT-P

• Bryce Wegner - EMT-P

• Dave Nelson – EMT-P

• Jesus Alcantara - EMT-P

• Jim Acker - EMT-P

• Jim Phillips - EMT-P

• Joe Mildenstein - EMT-P

• Josh Tillmann – EMT-P

• John Uebelacker – EMT-P

• Kiana Gosh - EMT-P

• Logan Wegner - EMT-P

• Megan Kastern - EMT-P

• Nicole Tillmann – EMT-P

Advanced EMT Level

• Alex Rosiejka – EMT-A

• Amanda Hicks - EMT-A 

• Brady Wendt - EMT-A

• Brenda Noll – EMT-A

• Jerry Wendt – EMT-A (Jefferson Fire Assistant Chief)

• Jessica Keesler - EMT-A

• Jessica Olson - EMT-A

• Joel Theder - EMT-A

• Kathy Klein – EMT-A

• Mary Hoefler – EMT-A

• Samantha Reher - EMT-A

• Skyler Krutz - EMT-A

• Sue Reinen - EMT-A (EMS Director) 

• Taylor Zache - EMT-A

• Tony Filter – EMT-A

• Wes Benish – EMT-A (Waterloo Fire Chief)

Basic EMT Level

• Emily Boucher – EMT-B 

• James Kreul-Thompson - EMT-B

• John Gotto – EMT-B (Jefferson Fire Apparatus Operator)

• Kip Kopelke – EMT-B (Jefferson Fire Captain)

• Mandy Hollis – EMT-B

• Michael Stratmoen - EMT-B 

• Nash Niesen – EMT-B (Jefferson Fire Captain)

• Ron Wegner – EMT-B (Jefferson Fire Chief)

• Roxanne Schneider - EMT-B

• Shaun Bauer – EMT-B (Jefferson Fire Assistant Chief)

EMT Ride-along

• Brandon Chesmore 

• Chloe Smith 

• Olivia Miller 

• Reese Hacht

• Rileigh Szwec