Ashippun Fire Department

The Ashippun Fire Department was organized December 4, 1917 with 19 charter members. Ashippun had the first fire department organized under Chapter 213 and is still incorporated today.
Original Officers
The first officers elected were: Alfred Versonski, Chief
Harris Radtke, Assistant Chief
Alvin Voigt, Secretary
George Capitorn, Treasurer
The Original Equipment
The first equipment purchased was an Obenchains Boyers, chemical, six-man hand pump with 150 feet of 1½ inch hose and some buckets and ladders.
In the Year 1954...
In 1954, a new fire station was built to house four trucks, meeting room and kitchen facilities.
In the Year 1968
In 1968, we added a radio system in all the trucks and a base station with two remotes to serve our needs.
In the Year 1972
In 1972, an addition was built to accommodate three more trucks with new meeting room, offices and new kitchen. This station is now 60' by 128' and is called Station #1.
In the Year 1975
In 1975, we added 38 pocket pagers to give better response to our calls. We have since added radios for the EMS group and continue to add radios as necessary. Given the large size of our territory, having radio communication between members, dispatchers at the county level, and mutual aid departments is vital.
In the Year 1995
In 1995, the Town of Ashippun built a new town hall at a location 3.7 miles from Station #1 and worked with the AFD to build three bays onto the town hall to house a police car and two fire vehicles. We moved into Station #2 on January 14, 1996 with a small parade beginning at Station #1. Several neighboring departments joined us for this special day.
In the Year 1998
In 1998 we were selected as a co-host for the State Firefighters Association conference in Oconomowoc. We had approximately 300 firefighters and spouses tour our facilities. We were also presented with an award for third place in the Fire Prevention program.
Recent Years
We continue to grown professionally as a department. We work closely with our townships and continue to offer community services such as free blood pressure checks, free batteries for smoke detectors and free community CPR classes. |