Plane crash, baby delivery, fire and more keep fire department busy
DELAFIELD, Wis. - From a plane crash-landing on a golf course to a baby delivery and more, Lake Country Fire & Rescue was extraordinarily busy Tuesday, Nov. 15.
For emergency responders, it's all in a day's work – it's just not usually so much packed into 12 hours.
The season's first real snowfall delivering traffic calls was only the tip of the iceberg. It started with a baby delivery in a car and snowballed from there.
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"Certainly a birth happens a lot in any community. It doesn’t necessarily happen in a moving vehicle pulling up to a fire department every day," said Matt Haerter, assistant fire chief. "The baby was born very healthy."
The same workers who helped deliver the baby went on to help with a Nashotah stable fire that left two horses and three dogs dead.
Stable fire in Nashotah
From there, they responded to a plane that crash-landed at Western Lakes Golf Club in Pewaukee with three people and 53 dogs on board – all of whom are now safe.
"It was essentially a cargo aircraft, but it was carrying especially precious cargo," Haerter said. "It’s beyond, lucky beyond measure.
"The victims could’ve been injured worse," he added. "They could’ve crashed a little further and hit a hospital. They also could’ve hit the interstate. All of these things aren’t just 'what ifs' – they’re very, very probable outcomes."
Another possible outcome was not having the people available to help.
"Our staffing issues are a daily crisis," said Haerter.
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Lake Country Fire & Rescue has a plan to hire more full-time staff members. Recently approved by the fire board, it now moves to the municipalities to determine funding.
Haerter said a busy day like Tuesday only underscored that need, and how proud he is of the team he has.
Lake Country Fire & Rescue
"They refused to let the staffing, or how many of them are at work, or how many calls are coming in, or what type of a call it is get in the way of them being professional problem-solvers," he said.
This week is also Crash Responder Safety Week, something the department asks the community to keep in mind as nearly every week a responder is killed while helping with a roadway call.