Pine River Volunteer Fire Department

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United States
Merrill, WI
Pine River Volunteer Fire Department

We were established in 2005 and are a volunteer fire department in the town of Pine River to better protect it.

08/02/2026

Our thoughts are with the men and women of the Eau Claire Fire Department who lost one of their own

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EYnXwH5XY/

07/26/2026

Pine River has one of these devices on our lead engine, the first device deployed by a fire department in Lincoln County.

Now nearly twenty can be found on the roads in fire vehicles and squad cars. All thanks to a generous donation from the Virginia Falls Masons Lodge

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07/15/2026

When Mother Nature deals you some lemons.....

With the weather being so hot today we moved training to the park. At 89 degrees it is a great time to move a ton of water as we did some drafting and pumping.

Thanks to all those who braved the heat to join us tonight, better now than January

07/11/2026

We were sad to learn of the passing of actor Randolph Mantooth.

During the 1970's Randolph played Los Angeles County paramedic Johnny Gage on the TV show EMERGENCY.

LA County was not the first paramedic service in the United States, however thanks to the reach of that show the concept spread throughout the nation and countless lives were saved as a result.

Many in the fire service can trace their interest back to watching EMERGENCY growing up.

In his later years Mantooth starred in many TV shows, and became one of the biggest fans of the LA County Fire Museum.

Thanks for inspiring generations of responders Randy, we will take it from here.

KMG365

07/04/2026

As we celebrate our nation's 250th birthday, we hope that you are enjoying this beautiful weekend with family and friends.

Unfortunately some events have already occurred in the state already involving tragic deaths. Please be very careful in all you do this weekend so this great celebration does not become a yearly reminder of a tragedy.

06/23/2026

Lincoln County's Emergency Management has launched a new program to provide community alerts. To sign up for this free program, follow the instructions below. A better-informed community is a better prepared community.

06/08/2026

On the morning of June 8, 2026, at 5:44 AM, the Pine River Fire Department was dispatched to W4032 State Rd 64 in the Town of Pine River for a barn fire. Initial reports were that the barn was fully engulfed in flames when the 911 call was placed.

Firefighters arrived on the scene to find the heavy smoke and flames showing from all sides with the roof already collapsed. A defensive attack was initiated, and the fire was brought under control within 15 minutes; however, firefighters worked for another two hours on overhaul and extinguishing small pockets of fire.

The property owner advised the building was being used for small animal storage and it contained rabbits, turkeys, and chickens. Although some chickens extricated themselves, most of the animals inside were believed to have been lost in the fire.

Although damage limited the investigation, the property owner did state that a heating lamp was in use the night prior to the fire.

Because the barn was set back from the road far enough, fire operations were conducted with minimal impact on traffic on State Rd 64.

After the initial dispatch, a MABAS box alarm to the working still level was requested but later canceled as Pine River had adequate personal on the scene to manage it. Merrill Fire Dept did establish a fill site for PRFD at the AmericInn.

05/27/2026

On the fourth Tuesday of the month a group of firefighters gather to spend hours going through all of our motorized equipment.

From checking fluid levels in engines, making sure chain saws are ready to go at a moments notice, to even making sure all the flares and cones are ready to go.

As a reward, we feed those who show up. Some months it is a nice homemade dinner, others times it is simply pizza.

This evening with the hot temps Subway of Merrill was the choice.

When one of our members arrived to pick up the order we found this great note from Manager Jessica Klement and her team of Sandwich Artists along with the message that dinner was on them this month.

Thanks for the great food guys! It was a huge hit!

05/26/2026

Throughout the spring and summer the fire climate season is ever changing. Thankfully, Lt. Brad Hartwig keeps up our DNR sign by monitoring the reports and changing the sign to match the conditions every single day.

Tonight, we had a visitor, seems old Smokey the Bear himself came around to make sure we were keeping his sign up to date. (We were)

05/20/2026

It is that time of year again, pool fill season.

The Pine River Fire Department provides pool fills, ONLY in the Town of Pine River.

We have numerous reasons for providing this service. With the most important being we use each individual trip to train on driving and operating, along with pumping.

There is something else we do; it is sort of a secret. While we are at your home pumping water, we plan. We talk to our younger firefighters and say, what would you do if this home has a fire tomorrow? Where would you park the engine, where is the best place for the tankers to line up, where is the nearest water source?

This training helps the young men and women who are the future of this department work through scenarios that are not in a book or on a tablet.

The water we deliver, which is 3,000 gallons at a time, we purchase directly from the city water works, so it is not pond water.

It should also be noted; we have two 3,000 gallon tanker trucks. On good weather weekends we can get both tankers staffed and out filling numerous pools, however one truck always has a full load of water just in case.

The last reason we do it? As a service to you. Oh, and much like your pool, because we are cool too!

The cost is $120 for the first load, and $100 for each additional.

So, if you live in the town, call Tony Hartwig at 715-409-3252. He does work swing shifts at times, so you might want to text him, or please be patient for a return call.

Address

N1622 Rangeline Road
Merrill, WI
54452

Telephone

+17155393255

Website

http://www.pineriverfd.com/

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