Madison Fire Department trains interns; Fitchburg cuts engine staffing | The Locally Times
Madison Fire Department trains interns; Fitchburg cuts engine staffing
## Madison Training Exercises University of Wisconsin medical interns spent the week of June 15, 2026, training with the Madison Fire Department (MFD) on tactical rescue and emergency medical techniques. The program, titled Doc Ops, provides interns with experience in high-stress environments to align field operations with hospital care. Under the instruction of Lieutenant Aaron Zamzow, interns operated hydraulic rescue tools for vehicle extrications and practiced advancing charged hose lines through search-and-rescue simulations. ## Fitchburg Staffing Changes The Fitchburg Fire Department will transition to three-person engine crews effective July 1, 2026, whenever the fourth position requires overtime pay. The city’s June 22, 2026, staffing update states this change follows a 2025 budget shortfall of $200,000 caused by overtime costs. The department has already exhausted its overtime budget for the first six months of 2026. A November 2024 referendum, a public vote on a specific funding measure, failed to secure approval for six additional firefighter positions. The department will continue to use mutual aid partnerships, which are agreements between neighboring agencies to share resources during emergencies, to manage call volume. The department plans to monitor response performance metrics to maintain safety standards. The staffing update notes that three-person engine crews are used by other fire departments in Dane County and the United States. ## Key Questions **How does the Doc Ops program improve patient care?** The program provides medical interns with hands-on experience in tactical firefighting and rescue scenarios to bridge the gap between pre-hospital field operations and hospital emergency departments. **Why is the Fitchburg Fire Department changing engine staffing?** The department is shifting to three-person crews to manage a $200,000 budget shortfall from 2025 and to avoid additional overtime costs after exhausting its 2026 overtime budget.