The Rhinelander City Council has approved a memorandum of understanding with Oneida county to have two fire department personnel go out with the county Special Response Team, commonly known as a SWAT team.
Fire Chief Terry Williams says the Sheriff's Department took applications and after a testing, found two EMS-trained firefighters who met the requirements.
Committee chair Alex Young said there was considerable discussion about the role the Rhinelander personnel would have outside the city...
"....there's a chance we'll be sending our firefighters outside the city to do stuff or possibly outside the county and this would cost money, but it's all part of serving the interests of the greater community and we like to cooperate...."
Fire Chief Terry Williams says the Rhinelander EMS personnel would not carry guns, but would be trained to protect themselves....
".....they won't be armed, they will have weapons training with the SRT team. For lack of a better phrase, if things go bad they will be able to defend or protect themselves. They will be part of the (force) going into the 'hot zone'...."
The council voted unanimously to approved the memorandum of understanding.
