'Together we are stronger': Pewaukee and Sussex fire departments temporarily merge to combat the coronavirus

The Pewaukee and Sussex fire departments have formed a partnership — at least temporarily.

According to Pewaukee Fire Chief Kevin Bierce, the decision to merge the two departments was in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"(Sussex Fire) Chief (David) Johnsen and I have been looking at different options of how to enhance service levels for both communities for several months," Bierce said. "Consolidation and shared services are really a thing of the future. We thought it was a good idea and kind of put it on the back burner because we're both doing OK."

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Bierce said the two departments realized they would potentially need more boots on the ground because of the coronavirus.

"Together, we are stronger than apart," Bierce said. "We have the same working philosophies, we have a shared border, a shared dispatch center and a shared medical director. It only made sense for that partnership to blossom."

Elected officials from both Pewaukee and Sussex embraced the idea of a trial merger.

"Fire guys will always play nice in the box," Bierce said. "But when you get elected officials to say, 'Do what's right for the citizens and we'll worry about it later,' that shows to me that we have elected officials who are really stepping up to the plate. When you have that kind of support ... it makes life a lot easier."

The merge became official in late March. Operating as one task force, Bierce assumed command, with Johnsen and Pewaukee Assistant Fire Chief Mark Hoppe next in charge.

"We have a really good branch structure set up," Bierce said. "We've done a lot of disaster planning in the past and a lot of major exercises that have led us to implement that stuff really quick. Then we put an instant action plan together that is specific to who is responding to where."

Bierce said the department has purchased additional sets of personal protective equipment to combat the coronavirus.

"We have pretty substantial protocols and procedures put in place," Bierce said.

The agreement between the two departments will last as long as there is state of emergency, but Bierce hopes it lasts longer than that.

"I really do hope we can carry this over," Bierce said. "I think there are some really strong attributes of partnerships and sharing are coming out of this and showing us it can be done."

Contact Evan Frank at (262) 361-9138 or evan.frank@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Evanfrank_LCP.