Milwaukee Fire Department honors We Energies with Community Hero Award

Our employees on stage with Mayor Tom Barrett
and Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing.

The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) honored We Energies at its Meritorious and Community Service Awards Ceremony last night. The annual ceremony celebrates courageous men and women of the MFD, Milwaukee Police Department and civilians who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

We Energies was recognized with a Community Hero Award for the company’s close partnership with MFD when responding to emergencies.

“We Energies gas and electric line personnel, who respond on a regular basis to our emergency scenes, remain largely unrecognized for their important role in emergency mitigation,” said Deputy Fire Chief Aaron Lipski. “Whether 2 p.m. or 2 a.m., their prompt response and unfailing expertise in increasing the safety of our operating firefighters and paramedics and the civilians we all serve is consistent and focused.”

We Energies natural gas and electric workers often are requested at active fires to shut off natural gas service or de-energize electric lines to make it safe for firefighters to do their job.

“Their work, while often in the shadows and many times occurring too quickly to draw much attention, dramatically improves the operating conditions for our membership so that we can work to minimize property loss and increase survivability,” said Lipski.

Back row: Jeff Banaszak, Kevin Harrison, Dave Megna, Brian Tabbert, 

Fred Wenzel. Front row: Jerry Nash, Jerry Romanowski, Todd Lulinski, 

Kevin Fletcher, Tiara Joyner, Melissa Simpson