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Have some soup and see what the Kewaskum Fire Department is doing
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By ANDREW KUEHL
Akuehl@kewaskumstatesman.com
3/13/08 KEWASKUM- As part of a way to thank the community for their annual support, Kewaskum Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians will hold their eighth annual Soup Sampler and Open House at the fire station Saturday from 4 until 8 p.m. Attendees will also have an opportunity to see the department’s newest piece of life-saving equipment.
Firefighter/EMT/Dive Team member Craig Garbisch, explained the popular event allows community members to get an up-close look at equipment and learn how the department responds to emergencies. To say thank you for community support, firefighters break out their best recipes for soup to serve to visitors.
This year’s event will feature the Fire Department’s new dive/rescue equipment trailer they recently took delivery on. Kewaskum Fire Department has three of its members on the Washington County Dive Team. The trailer and the equipment inside are estimated at over $25,000 according to Garbisch. The Kewaskum Firefighters Association purchased the trailer and turned it over to the village.
Garbisch, Paul Petri and David Kletti have been active the last five years the team has been in existence. In addition to these Kewaskum Firefighters, others from West Bend, Slinger and Richfield volunteer with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team.
The trailer contains all the gear used to perform water and ice rescues. Before the trailer, gear was kept inside the fire department garage and needed to be loaded into a truck upon being dispatched to a rescue. Having the trailer will allow a faster response time during a rescue. The department already owns a sport utility vehicle that can pull the trailer.
Local carpenter and firefighter Jim Schaub of Schaub Home Improvement built the cabinets and shelving inside the trailer while Garbisch organized gear into the cabinets so the trailer is ready for it’s first rescue call.
Equipment for the trailer was purchased with funds from the Michael Mann fund. The fund’s namesake drowned on Big Cedar Lake in February of 2003 after his snowmobile went through the ice.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team got it’s start in 2003 when the County Board allocated $45,000 to equip and train up to eight sheriff's deputies.
Over this past summer their efforts were put to work as they performed a rescue on Long Lake in the town of Osceola. Their first assignment was about three years ago after a car went over a guardrail and into the Kohlsville River.
Garbisch reported that three firefighters would soon undergo training. Each new diver requires $4,000 in gear; the department is currently seeking donations to help fund equipment for the new divers. They plan on taking up a freewill offering at the soup sampler on Saturday.
“All of the equipment inside the trailer has been purchased through donations from the community, we have not spent taxpayer dollars on the dive team,” Garbisch established.
In addition to the new divers’ equipment, the team also hopes to purchase radio gear that would enable divers to communicate with someone above water. That technology costs $1,000 per radio; each diver would require a radio.
Anyone interested in volunteering with the department is encouraged to attend the event and learn the important role the Kewaskum Fire Department plays in the community. For more information contact Garbisch at (262) 689-3722
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