Dennis Rubin profiled in his new job as De Pere, WI fire chief
Previously: Dennis Rubin reports he’s the new fire chief of De Pere, WI
Because he had the fortune or misfortune of becoming the fire chief in the Nation’s Capital on the same week this website began, Dennis Rubin is the most mentioned fire chief in our almost eight-year history (Check out the STATter911.com Dennis Rubin reader). Last month The Rube, somewhat quietly, started his first chief’s job since resigning from DC four-years-ago. Rubin is now leading the fire department in De Pere, a city of 24,000 people outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Last week, reporter Doug Schneider with the Green Bay Press Gazette sat down with Dennis Rubin and asked the obvious question of a man who ran the fire departments in DC and Atlanta. The Rube answered the question with a question, “You ask me ‘Why De Pere?’ but I think it should be ‘Why not De Pere?”
Rubin told reporter Schneider that he would like to beef up the department’s on-call firefighting staff from the current 10 positions to about 30. The department has two fire stations and, as in many smaller departments, the chief sometimes has to pitch in and do more than just chief type duties:
De Pere has 29 firefighting positions — including an assistant chief’s post for which the city is interviewing — and two fire stations serving 24,300 residents. About 85 percent of De Pere’s calls are for medical issues.
While Rubin insists that staff size is adequate for De Pere’s size, he said he has driven one of the department’s rigs to calls on three occasions in the two weeks he has been on the job.
