Municipal fire department · Wisconsin · United States

Milwaukee Fire Department

The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) protects the City of Milwaukee — approximately 560,000 residents across 96 square miles on the western shore of Lake Michigan, with a working harbour, historic industrial corridors, and dense neighbourhoods of brick three-flats and wood-frame housing. The department traces continuous paid service to 1875 and fields roughly 750 uniformed members from around 35 fire stations. MFD provides structural fire suppression, advanced life support emergency medical service (the department operates Milwaukee's 911 paramedic system jointly with the local hospital network under the Milwaukee Emergency Medical Services model), technical rescue, hazardous materials response, and marine firefighting on Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. Firefighter recruitment is administered by the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission under Wisconsin civil service rules. The process typically includes an online application, written examination, the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT), oral interview, medical and psychological evaluation, and background investigation. Successful candidates attend the MFD Training Academy for a recruit course covering structural firefighting, EMT certification (with paramedic upgrade options post-academy), and technical rescue. Application windows align with budgeted hiring cycles and are announced on the official careers page. Bluewatch is a directory and refers candidates to the official Milwaukee portal.