Also in The Monroe Times it speaks of him leaving a scene and he claims it was a "restroom break". Im sorry but a restroom break does not take 45 minutes and what explains the part of him just standing there initially instead of "commanding" his fire fighters on what to do and the first thing he did when he arrived on scene was throw up. If his job is to manage a scene then why does it always end up being other fire fighters doing the managing. Maybe Brodhead does have a need for a full time fire chief but if you ask me, the fire chief should be a FIRE FIGHTER. Go to http://systemattic.wtcsystem.edu/mis/dat... and search the fire chief's last name, BOHAN. You will see nothing is found. The fire chief just wants the six people, that brought allegations up, to work with him. That's complete nonsense since he has already mentioned working on getting them kicked off the department. Keep in mind it wasn't the citizen's of Brodhead renewing his contract, it was only the city council.

The Monroe Times had a big article. It was told he parked in a handicap parking and his reason given was he was late of a meeting, and didn't realize until he came out of the "store". How many meetings take place "in a store"? Isn't that "inattentive driving? And against the law? Don't understand why the council decided to keep him with all the conflict, but apparently they know more than we do????? Hope they can get the close knit firefighters to stay on the department. And that keeping the chief is the right thing. I don't see a need for a full time when he can't handle the job or keep the peace in the department.

The responsibilities of the BFD do not end at the Brodhead city limits or with the 3100 residents contained therein. We are 14 miles from Monroe on the west 7 miles from Albany to the north, 7 miles from Orfordville to the east and 8 miles to the Illinois state line to the south. Those areas in between, and other area communities, may call on our fire department at any time. And do. As for the paperwork that needs to be completed by the chief, a grant application has just as many pages for a small town as it does for a major city, so takes the same amount of time to complete. Any government office, be it city, state or federal has paperwork ad nauseum. And, again, it makes little or no difference whether your town is small or large. The paperwork is the same. Our prior volunteer chief was amazing and generous with his time. He quit. He was ready to do other things. The city hired the new chief. They researched appropriate salaries for cities in this area of our approximate size and offered a contract to the new chief. We should be applauding Mayor Pinnow and the City Council for recognizing that we had to step into this century at some point.

Are you kidding me edgertonfd?? That wonderful thing they call a chief is far from being in charge. He dedicates everything to somebody so that he doesn't have to do anything. And going to a fire, how can he be in command when he is not even a certified fire fighter in the state of Wisconsin??? He's had two years to do this and has failed. He has wrecked the whole department and it's sad to see. There are people that have been on that department for 35 years being kicked off because of them talking behind his back. And what kind of fire chief is he when he responds to a call, involving both EMS and Fire, and goes with EMS because he gets paid more than if he goes with Fire, and he has been heard saying that. He doesn't give a sh*t about his fire fighters, he's in it for himself. I can't believe that the city council is that spineless and renewed him for another year.

Change is difficult, volunteers deserve credit for putting thier lives on the line but someone has to be in charge. Kudos to the city council for not having a kneejerk reaction to a few complaints.

This is a town of 3,000 people. full time is not needed, need I say more!!!!

Ok. I wasn't aware they had changed to a full-time chief. I used to live there and it wasn't like that then.

What's wrong with this picture? The volunteers get $4 per call to risk their lives and sometimes they're on the scene for hours, while the chief rides around in his new truck that the taxpayers pay for, order new fire trucks that look nice but does all that chome help fight fires and what does it add to our bill? And most of all, prior to the full time cheif, there was a part time cheif that did everything himself (Good job B.R.)but now with the full time cheif he has to have an assistant or so he says? HMMMM, doesn't all add up. Thank you to ALL the volunteers but $4 isn't enough for what you do and risk.

"This is an organization that has been in existence for over 200 years."

Slight typo there??? City web pages states fire dept active since 1884". That would be 126 years.

Just thought I'd ask!

Nicely said, td--for the sake of the residents and dedicated volunteers alike, I hope they can all take a deep breath, and get through this. Change is always tough; best of luck to everyone involved.

No.

td9886 - Is the Chief not a volunteer and named by the volunteers?

It saddens me to learn of the turmoil that has overcome the Brodhead Fire Department Organization over the past few years. This is an organization that has been in existence for over 200 years. Since its inception, it has been solely run, managed, and maintained by volunteers from the community. The support from the community, both the City of Brodhead and the surrounding townships, has been invaluable in the organization’s continuation and growth. Firefighters are a unique breed of people. This fire department has been successful in part because of the members, who not only share a common goal as far as fire protection and prevention, but who are a family both in and outside of the department. This family comes together like no other when one of their own faces crisis or tragedy. It also is the first organization to be called when its community faces crisis – and these members respond, without question, every time.

Having said this, it is also a fact that this volunteer organization has the responsibility to uphold the standards of the profession. Increased demands for record keeping, training, budget balancing, grant writing, and networking with peers makes it impossible for someone who is a volunteer – doing this job after their regular job and family. It is necessary to have a full time management employee to keep up with the demands of the department.

It is a fine line that must be walked to balance this professional organization with the volunteers that are the heart and soul of it. I know that the troubles of the past couple of years have been difficult on all involved. I hope that the next weeks and months will be a time of renewed interest and belief in the organization that has been such a large part of the Brodhead Community. It will take work and cooperation from all involved. In the end however, I’m confident that the Brodhead Fire Department will come out a stronger department and will remain an organization that the community can be proud of.

It is my hope that the City of Brodhead Administrators and the Rural Fire Association becomes actively involved and truly interested in the department and its well being. You have a gem. There is a lot going on now, pulling administrators in many directions. I hope this isn’t one subject that gets pushed aside to the point of dividing the family permanently, which has been so close for so many years.