Posted: June 17, 2009

Mequon — Three city firefighters could get kicked out of the department for failing to meet the minimum requirements for attendance at training sessions and responding to fire calls.

City rules require firefighters to participate in at least 75 percent of the department's training activities and to respond to at least 20 percent of the fire calls in each half of a year.

But the three veteran firefighters fell far short of that requirement last year, Fire Chief David Bialk said in disciplinary charges filed with the Police and Fire Commission.

Attendance was spotty

The charges allege that:

• Robert Schepp, a 24-year veteran, attended 42 percent of the training sessions and responded to calls 6 percent of the time during the first half of 2008. He attended training 61 percent of the time and responded to 14 percent of fire calls in the second half of the year.

• Gregory Holz, a 23-year veteran, attended 26 percent of the training for the first half of 2008 and responded to 10 percent of the calls. He attended 17 percent of the training and answered 8.8 percent of the calls during the second half of the year.

• Stacy Cooke, a nine-year veteran, attended 32 percent of the training and responded to 8 percent of the calls in the first six months of 2008; and 72 percent of the training and 14.8 percent of the calls in the second half.

The commission will listen to evidence regarding the charges against Schepp and Holz in hearings scheduled for July 1. The evidentiary phase for Cooke will be held at a later date.

Rules are relatively new

In May 2007, the commission adopted the minimum requirements. There were no standards before then.

The standards were not implemented until January 2008 to allow firefighters time to change their schedules and adapt to the new rules, and because there was no administrative support in the department at the time to enforce them. Bialk posted the rules and regulations and discussed them at training after their adoption.

In a meeting with Bialk on March 5, Schepp said he failed to meet the department standards because his outside employment was keeping him busy and because his father was ill for a few weeks in January, according to the charges. He told Bialk he responded to fire calls only when there was an actual fire because he did not want to drive from his home in Grafton for other calls.

Holz met with Bialk on March 16 and said he too busy with his full-time job as a firefighter in Milwaukee County and with a business he owns, the chief said in the charges.

When Bialk found that neither firefighter had good cause for failing to meet department standards, they were told they could voluntarily resign but did not do so. Bialk then asked for the hearings to remove them from the department.

At several points during the year, all three firefighters were notified of their deficiencies so they would have the opportunity to correct them, according to the charges.

Bialk said he would not comment on the charges because of the pending hearing. None of the firefighters would talk with a reporter.

The department employs paid-on-call firefighters.