Home Page: Fire Department
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Todd Carlson, Fire Chief
12112 E. Francis Willard Road
Lake Nebagamon, WI 54849
(715) 374-3305
The following pictures were taken at a Live Burn in Washburn on December 1, 2007. Pictures submitted by Dawn Ross.
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Become A Member
What if you awoke in the middle of the night to find your house on fire and there was no one to put it out?
What if your father starts having severe chest pain or your daughter was hit by a car while riding her bike to her friend’s house?
What if your brother was in an ATV accident or your son fell off the roof and couldn’t feel his legs? Wouldn’t you want someone to help your family or even save their lives?
What if we can help you go from feeling helpless to knowing how to help your family and neighbors, or maybe even save their lives? You can do this by joining the Highland Fire Department.
What’s in it for you? You get the satisfaction of knowing that you have donated your time and efforts to being a part of the community. Knowing that one day you may be able to save a life and knowing that you have the skills, knowledge and experience to excel in any endeavor in your life.
Even if you are not interested in operational activities, the Highland Volunteer Fire Department still has areas where you can help. Please see the Support section. You do not need to be a resident of Highland to join.
Become an Operational Volunteer
Highland Volunteer Fire Department relies on volunteers to operate. There are 18 volunteer fire departments throughout Douglas County, with about 270 volunteers providing their services to the communities. Volunteer fire fighters and first responders are used in various capacities within the area. We provide services for events such as the, Fat Tire Festival and the Birkebeiner Ski Race.
You can choose to become a fire fighter, a medical first responder or both.
Fire Fighter: You can start with in-house training for basic skills and will be able to respond to calls with the department. You can then up-grade your skills by attending a 45 hour course scheduled evenings at a nearby department. There is no cost to you for the course or materials to advance your skills. All the equipment needed for personal protection will also be provided by the department at no cost.
First Responder: If you choose, we will help you get the training in Emergency Medical Care as a First Responder. With these skills you will have the ability to save a life. The life you save may be some one close to you. The fire department will pay for all books and materials including the cost of the course. You will also be provided a complete medical responder bag which is carried by you at all times. The classes are held at nearby departments in the evening.
Wildland Fire Fighting
Our Department works closely with Wisconsin DNR to develop trained wildland fire fighters. We also plan strategies to minimize the spread of wildfire.
The Department has an active FireWise, www.firewise.org, homeowner training program designed to educate and to pre-plan for home protection in the event of a forest fire.
River, Ice and Wilderness Rescue
We have river, ice and wilderness rescue teams that can always use personnel. You will gain canoeing, search and rescue and other outdoor survival skills. You will also gain intimate knowledge of the Brule River .
Benefits: Operational volunteers are compensated for their time and expenses incurred by spending time in meetings, trainings and responding to calls. The Town of Highland Fire Department provides a stipend to its operational volunteers which are given out in December.
Meetings and Training: HVFD meets the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm, at the fire hall. The hall is located on County Highway S. We may also hold special meetings and work days throughout the year as the need arises. All meetings are posted in the Northwoods Shopper.
Support: The Highland Fire Department has numerous opportunities for volunteers which do not require training or involve dangerous activities. The department is looking for volunteers who want to join an organization committed to serving its community.
Members provide invaluable support to the department. We need people to help fund raising activities, vehicle maintenance and building maintenance. Skills that are helpful are small engine repair, vehicle repair, plumbing, accounting, construction, wood working, cleaning etc. Any help is gladly accepted.
The HVFD’s building; fire and EMS apparatus are owned by the Town of Highland and are paid for by tax payers, tax-free donations and fundraising by our members. The result of the work done by volunteers is allowing the HVFD to grow into an effective high quality department with abilities not found in other communities. 
HIGHLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT
MEETING MINUTES
May 6, 2008
Members present: John Prohaska, Sherrie Craft, Todd Carlson, Matt Carlson, Ron Cairns, Ken Wilk, Mary Davidson, Dawn Ross, Mike Ross, Kally Ross, Jake Meline, Tim Andrews and Marvin Landreth.
6:43 pm the meeting was called to order by Chief John Prohaska.
Minutes from the last meeting were given to members. Motion to accept minutes made by Kally and seconded by Jake. Motion carried. Treasurer’s Report was given. Motion to accept the report made by Jake and seconded By Kally. Motion carried.
Fire Association Meetings: Douglas County – Lakeside. The “Be Somebody” commercials were discussed. The filming was completed and the commercials should start running within a week.
Lee Kennedy stated that a few of our responders still needed to complete WMD and/or some advanced skills.
Fire/EMS Report: 1 Alarm Call – April 15th around 4-4:30. We did not get the run number or the times for that call. The person that takes the call or truck should be the person completing the run form. There is an electronic copy of the form on the computer in the office.
Committee Report: Bingo – Marvin is not willing to do the Bingo Games any longer. He has told the Lake Nebagamon Association of his decision. It was discussed that the members of the department should have been consulted before any decision was made. Dawn felt that we had not given enough time to the project and that we are letting down the businesses that did support us with donations. A letter to all of the community should be published thanking them for all of their support. Marvin will go back to the Nebagamon Association and determine what their feelings are on this issue. A final decision will be tabled until our next meeting.
Old Business: Combi tube training is to be held May 13th. There was talk that the members were not comfortable with this training. Discussion was held on future plans to join with Barnes so that we can use our skills to the full extent. At the moment, our medical director will only allow us to do the EPI portion. We are not allowed to even back board a patient. A long discussion was held on the pros and cons of learning combi tube, medical direction, integrating with Barnes, and in house training to maintain skill levels. It was decided to hold the training. John will send the registration forms.
New Business: The Brush Truck is back in service after being vandalized. A bill for the repair is being sent to us. Todd was asked to get a bid from Copps and Red for the repair and to call with the info. He called Janice and got permission to take the truck to Red for the repair.
Dawn asked what was being done about the break in as far as reports and police involvement. We do not have any information other than the police were here and filed a report. Janice is not giving any information about the incident to us. When you are leaving the building, please try the door to make sure it is locked.
A copy of your First responder licenses are needed for our files and the large card needs to be kept here at the hall. Please turn these in as soon as you can.
The “Be Somebody” event is Friday, May 16th at 3:30 in Brule. This is where the event starts. We need drivers for some of the trucks on that day. Todd and Sherrie will be available to drive. Everyone is welcome to attend. Discussion was held on where we want to set up after the kick off. Most of the members would like to set up in the far end of the parking lot of the Gopher Hole. Ron will look into it. John stated that we should see what Barnes is doing since we usually stage with them. Some members felt that we did not need to ask Barnes what they were going to do; we should make our own plans. John said that he and Sherrie would talk to Tom about it.
The 6 month evaluation form needs to be composed. Sherrie said that she would ask Tom if he could help her with that.
Ballots were inspected by the members and verified that they had not been opened. Secretary, Sherrie Craft opened the ballots and tallied the results before all of the members that were in attendance.
Totals were as follows: John Prohaska – 5, Todd Carlson – 10, Ron Cairns – 1. The Chief beginning June 3, 2008 will be Todd. Nominations for Assistant Chief were opened. Mike nominated Ron. Ron accepted the nomination. Kally nominated Ken. Ken declined the nomination. Nominations were called for three
times. Nominations were closed. Ron will be Assistant Chief. Nominations for Secretary/Treasurer were opened. Matt nominated Sherrie. She accepted the nomination. Nominations were called three times. Sherrie will remain the Secretary/Treasurer.
New business form the floor: Todd: The air hose has been removed from the engine. The brakes are leaking air and the compressor was running continuously. Todd was afraid that the compressor would burn up so he disconnected it until the brakes can be repaired.
Mike – Gave a sincere Thank You to John for all of his hard work and all the wonderful things he accomplished for the department.
A motion to adjourn was made by Matt/Ken. MC
Training will be Tuesday, May 20, 2008 @ 6:30pm at the fire hall.
Next Meeting Tuesday, June 3, 2008 @ 6:30 pm at the fire hall.
Town of Highland Fire Department Forms & Applications
Todd Carlson, Fire Chief
(715) 374-3305