Wausau fire department six firefighter-paramedics short as committee takes up staffing

By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review Wausau’s fire department is six firefighter-paramedics short and running overtime above target while absorbing budget cuts, according to a report headed to a city committee Monday. The quarterly report is one of several items before the Public Health and Safety Committee. The committee will also hear an update on a city-county homelessness plan due by year’s end and consider a new emergency management contract with Marathon County. In a separate item, the owner of M&R Station has been called in over an August parking-lot shooting that police say staff never reported. At the mayor’s direction, the department submitted $88,000 in cuts to its operating budget. Fire Chief Jeremy Kopp wrote that “any reduction of this magnitude inevitably limits flexibility in addressing future needs.” The city has also directed that two 40-hour management positions in the department stay vacant for six months.

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