Milwaukee Fire Department reopens station on the south side, adds paramedic unit on west side
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It's a day of celebration for the Milwaukee Fire Department on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
After seven years out of commission, firefighters are now back at work at Engine Company 31 on S. 8th St. and W. Hayes Ave.
The station on the south side was first commissioned in 1912 but closed in 2018 due to budget cuts.
Last April, a deadly fire spread to three houses on the same block as the shuttered station.
"We lost one of our civilians, one of our residents here, just across the street," said Milwaukee Fire Department Chief Aaron Lipski. "We almost lost a Milwaukee firefighter in that same fire. He spent a long, long time in a burn unit."
That firefighter, Ryan McMenamin, attended Wednesday's ribbon cutting ceremony.
"I've been back in the firehouse almost a month now. My recovery has been absolutely tremendous," McMenamin said.
The fire raised an alarm about the need for shorter response times.
"Fire doubles in size like every twenty seconds, so it truly matters how fast rigs are getting there," McMenamin explained.
That day, the closest operating station was more than a mile away then it could have been just seconds.
"No longer will the residents of this important neighborhood need to wait for a fire company coming from Kinnikinnic and Otjen, or from Euclid and Chase, or from 9th and Greenfield," Lipski said.
The funding was made possible by the city of Milwaukee's 2025 budget.
The fire department has been working with city and state leaders to return more stations to service.
"This was a monumental undertaking to get two groups of folks together to talk, the state and the city, but they did it," Lipski said.
The Milwaukee Fire Department also celebrated an addition to Engine Company 28 on the city's near west side, commissioning a new paramedic unit called Med 8.
Chief Lipski said there has been an increased demand for emergency medical services, and adding a paramedic unit near downtown was a necessary resource.
Station 28 was also closed in 2018 due to budget cuts, and recommissioned in 2023.
The city's 2025 budget also allows funding for six new firefighter positions for the Milwaukee Fire Department this year.