Fitchburg Police and Fire Commission Meeting – August 19, 2026

The Fitchburg Police and Fire Commission met on August 19, 2026, beginning at 5:03 p.m. The commission received monthly Fire and Police Department reports, entered two closed sessions for personnel matters, and approved several staffing and promotion actions. No agenda or minutes were available; this summary is based solely on the transcript. No public comments were made.

Meeting Call, Minutes, and Public Appearances

• The chair called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
• The commission unanimously approved the July 15, 2026 PFC minutes.
• No public appearances or comments were made for non-agenda items.

Fire Department Report

• Chief Sarver reported a busy July: 301 calls, up roughly 29 from last year (a figure that appears inconsistent with his projection of about a 1% increase for the year).
• A lightning-strike fire last week caused a roof and attic fire; crews achieved a fast knockdown and saved the home from major damage. The department also conducted many inspections.
• Response times increased in the month; the chief said the increase may be geographic and the department is reviewing the data. The goal is to stay under six minutes and closer to five.
• Staffing: the department is still onboarding POX firefighters; background-check delays have been resolved. Three POX battalion chiefs are now in place and will be scheduling full shifts for the rest of the month and year.
• Overtime: 826 hours of overtime equated to $38,000, reflecting a career-staff-heavy overtime month. Mandated overtime increased in July due to heavy PTO use, and the department continues working to reduce overtime spending.
• Staffing metric: fire crews had three-person staffing 44% of the time and four-person staffing 56% of the time in July. With interns returning to college next month, the chief expects daytime four-person staffing challenges and plans to continue public reporting.

Police Department Report

• Chief Morales reported the department is at 52 sworn officers, with two vacancies from full budgeted staffing. A fall hiring process is planned; 22 candidates were described as waiting for interviews (the transcript phrase "23 22" is unclear). No academy remains this year, but qualified candidates could be onboarded before the January academy.
• Current availability: one officer on field training, five at the academy, three on limited duty. Counting these and the vacancies, 11 positions are unfilled or unavailable to patrol on their own. The chief hopes to reach full staffing by the end of the year for the first time since January 2022.
• Calls for service have shown a drop in both citizen and officer-generated calls since the switch to county dispatch last November; officer-generated calls are expected to rise with better staffing, and citizen-call comparisons will be more meaningful next year.
• Crime: one shooting occurred in July in the Southdale neighborhood; it was a dispute between known actors, all suspects were taken into custody, evidence was recovered, and cases are pending court.
• Two burglaries were reported in July. The department sees burglaries and thefts from autos as related, happening mostly at storage units and garages at multi-apartment complexes. The problem is sporadic across north Fitchburg, is spreading into southern Madison, and has led to some arrests but not the reduction desired.
• Shots-fired incidents increased because of the July shooting; the chief otherwise characterized crime statistics as relatively good and expects investigations and patrol to help reduce crime.

Closed Sessions and Personnel Actions

• The commission entered closed session under Wisconsin's personnel closed-meeting statute to discuss Fire Department hiring from the career firefighter eligibility and fire science resident intern lists, and later to consider extending a patrol sergeant offer.
• Returning to open session, the commission approved:
  • Hiring two career firefighter positions from the eligibility list and hiring interns as needed for vacant positions.
  • Starting a fire science resident intern recruitment if needed.
  • Promoting Officer Matthew Tesh to patrol sergeant (the transcript also spells the rank as "parole sergeant" once).

Announcements

• An announcement was made about a badge-related requirement/ceremony; officials confirmed it is required and will be held in chambers.

Key Outcomes

• Approved July 15, 2026 minutes.
• Authorized two career firefighter hires and intern hiring as needed.
• Authorized fire science resident intern recruitment if needed.
• Approved promotion of Officer Matthew Tesh to patrol sergeant.
• All votes passed with no stated opposition.
• Adjourned by motion after the agenda was completed.