The week of October 22, The Merrill Foto News published a special section as a Tribute to Public Safety: thanking all of the men and women of our local public safety agencies for their ongoing dedication to safeguarding the health and safety of all Lincoln County residents. On behalf of the Merrill Foto News and the Merrill Community, a heartfelt Thank You to the men and women of the Town of Pine River Volunteer Fire Department and First Responders.
The Pine River Volunteer Fire Department & First Responders cover the Town of Pine River, with automatic mutual aid to the Marathon County Town of Hewitt for vehicle crashes.
Department equipment includes one FWD Seagrave Pumper, two tankers, a brush truck and six wheeled off road rescue vehicle, heavy duty rescue truck, and utility truck for manpower transport and fill site operations.
Each member of the department is certified Firefighter 1, while many have gone on to become Firefighter II certified. The department utilizes its own in house training program and has three certified instructors on the roster. They also use the NTC Merrill Campus to keep members up to date on the latest training advances in the fire service and work with the towns of Texas and Hewitt quarterly.
The Pine River Fire Department enjoys a strong commitment from both its members and town residents to keep the department well–staffed and adequately equipped. The annual Pig Roast fundraiser was just held in September and this year the preliminary numbers were record breaking. This is thanks to the countless hours the fundraising committee devotes to the project. Over the past year, two department members passed away. This has made our department much closer as we grieved together and we are appreciative of those who have supported us during after those two tragic deaths.
Personnel (Years of Service)
Chief: John Uttech (14 years)
Assistant Chief: Tony Hartwig (14);
Captains: Mike Caylor (14), Jeff Zettler (14); Lieutenants: Doug Sann (14), Brad Hartwig (11); Safety Officer: Nick Krzanowski (14); Training Officer: Rick Burns (6); Maintenance Officer: Gene Emmer (14).
Firefighters: John Deering (14), Marvin Hartwig (14), Lindsey Johnson (5), Dustin Meunier (14), Dave O’Brien (14), Maxine Schuetze (6), John Rainville (14), Dave Renken (14), Todd Roman (14), Carl Uttech (14), Lori Wendt (8), Gene Williams (14), Marilyn Zastrow (12) and Dylan Ruplinger (1).
First Responders: Sharon Uttech – EMS Director (12), Mike Caylor (12), Tony Hartwig (12), Mark Handlin (12), John Uttech (12), Marilyn Zastrow (12), Valerie Caylor (3), Jennifer Hartwig (1) and Hannah Zastrow (1).