MILWAUKEE --
A plan to change the name of the Milwaukee Fire Department was overwhelming rejected Thursday.
Alderman Terry Witkowski is suggesting the fire department be switched to Milwaukee Emergency Response Services.
He said data shows 80 percent of the department's calls are for medical issues, not fires
Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing testified strongly against changing the name.
He said people understand firefighters have multiple duties and making such a significant, costly change without the opinions of those in the department is not the way to proceed.
"If that's where we decide to go, we need the opinion of our firefighters, of our political leaders, or our commissioners," Rohlfing said.
"We'll continue to look at the Milwaukee Fire Department and it's operations and raise more issues as I continue to get more information from our research bureau," Witkowski said.
The committee struck down the proposal 4-1.
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