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 and have grown in full time staff since. 

Jefferson Emergency Medical Service (JEMS) operates with seven 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 you to JFD:

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: Jason Haas: Employment Recruiter

• Captain/EMT-B: Kip Kopelke: Customer Success Executive, SPS Commerce

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

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

• Captain: Mitch Schuenke: Owner of Red Line Barbeque Restaurant 

• Captain: Tony Land: HVAC - Refrigeration Specialist - University of Wisconsin-Madison

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: John Gotto: Biology Teacher, Jefferson High School

• Driver Brush 5/Paramedic: Keith Boucher: Firefighter, Engineering Manager, Electro-night Inc.

• Driver Squad 6/EMT-B: Logan Wegner: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson Fire & EMS

• Driver Tender 10: Rob Logemann: Service Technician, Bob's Pool Builders

• Driver Tender 11: Willy Niebler: City of Jefferson DPW

• Driver Ladder 12: Bryce Wegner: Paramedic/Firefighter, City of Jefferson Fire & EMS 

MEMBERSHIP

• Firefighter: Steve Adams: Retired

• Firefighter: LaVern Meng: Retired

• Firefighter: Carol Wedl: Retired

• Firefighter: Tom Ramseier: Retired

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

• Firefighter: DuWayne Raduege: Plumber, S&S Plumbing 

• Firefighter: Matt Hein: Driver, Lycon Inc.  

• Firefighter: Andrew Voight: Service Technician, Bob's Pool Builders

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

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

• Firefighter: Ryan David: Driver, Johns Disposal

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

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

• Firefighter/EMT-B: 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

• Firefighter: Blake Hummelmeier: Welder Blue Scope Building Inc. 

• Firefighter: Bailey Gosh: Radiology Tech, Watertown Hospital 

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

• Firefighter: Sam Gambill: Laborer, Forest Construction Inc. 

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

• Firefighter: Olivia Miller: Student, Jefferson High School 

• Firefighter: Owen Tully: Fidelity Land Title 

• Firefighter: Grant Schneider: Jefferson Speedway

• Apprentice Firefighter/EMT-B: Roxanne Schneider: Jefferson Fire & EMS 

• Apprentice Firefighter: Chase Langholff: Laborer, United Electric 

• Apprentice Firefighter/EMT-B: Abby Huven: Jefferson Fire & EMS; Fort Hospital ER Tech

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

• Jim Phillips - Paramedic/Firefighter

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