MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Fire Station 28 near 30th and St. Paul reopened Monday after being closed for more than five years due to city budget cuts.
Under metro Milwaukee's Shared Services Program, it was recommissioned with the help of Wauwatosa through a collaborative pilot project.
The partnership between Wauwatosa and Milwaukee means the fire station can reopen and another won't sit empty.
The two stations in play are Engine 35 on N. 64th St. and Engine 28 on 30th.
Staff from Station 35 and other Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) stations will relocate to Station 28. Wauwatosa will move an engine company into Station 35 — at no cost — to serve its southeast and Milwaukee residents in the area.
Chief Aaron Lipski is excited about the return and expects it to improve emergency response. Neighbors also think it is a win-win.
"That's what community is all about, talking with each other, connecting with each other," Sharlen Moore, a Milwaukee resident, said. "Having the reopening of Station 28 now gives our neighborhood another prime opportunity to have that sort of engagement."
Milwaukee fire says this is the first additional fire engine and station added to the department since 1956.
