Skip to main content

The Cedarburg Fire Department is a combination paid-on-call / full-time department made up of your neighbors, your friends and your relatives. We are committed to providing emergency services and fund raising activities to make the Cedarburg Fire Department the best of the best. It is only with your support by volunteering, that we can continue to provide first class service to our community. Not only is there a role for those that wish to fight fires and take care of the sick and injured, but there is another important role of fund raising that helps our community. It is through these fund raising efforts that allows the fire department to purchase our equipment and donate it back to Cedarburg. Which means, NO tax dollars were spent, just the sweat and hard work of those who volunteer at our fund raising events to give back to the community. CFD is a family and there is room for everyone in our family. Please consider joining today.

Jeff Vahsholtz

Message From The Chief

JEFFREY J. VAHSHOLTZ

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting the Cedarburg Fire Department website!

As you explore our website, you will read about the many activities and fundraising events that keep our department members busy!  Our CFD membership is comprised of 74 paid-on-call and 8 Full-Time people, which include paramedics as we continue to build on our paramedic services.  Our EMS and Fire personnel respond to over 1,500 calls per year, while continuously training to keep our skills sharp.

Active and Passive members work together to participate in our fundraising events to purchase fire apparatus and equipment that helps keep the tax rate down in our community.  ALL of our members are the heart, soul and backbone of our department.

We would love to have you become part of our CFD family.  Please give us a call or drop us an email for more information. Happy New Year, and please stay safe in 2024.

2024 Fall Stepping On Workshop

Every Tuesday (Sept 17 – Oct 29) 1pm – 3pm

Cedarburg Senior Center is hosting a Falls Prevention Workshop
Call Kari Dombrowski at the ADRC, to register. 262-284-8120

2025 Stepping On Workshop

If you missed the 2024 workshop, hurry and sign up for 2025! Tuesday mornings March 25th – May 6th

Cedarburg Senior Center is hosting a Falls Prevention Workshop in 2025!!
Call Kari Dombrowski at the ADRC, to register. 262-284-8120

Promotion Announced

CRR Captain Blake Karnitz

The Cedarburg Fire Department is pleased to announce the promotion of Blake Karnitz to the rank of
Captain. After joining the department in 2010, he first took on the role of Assistant Training Officer in
2013. Blake was hired to his full-time position as Fire Inspector in 2017. In addition to being a State
Certified Fire Inspector, Blake is an Advanced EMT and earned the rank of Rescue Lieutenant in 2019.
In addition to responding to many fire and rescue calls, he is also very active in Community Outreach and
Public Education events, Uniform Committee, Truck Committee, and our fundraising events.
In his new well-earned role as Captain, Blake will oversee the new Community Risk Reduction Division
(CRR). This new division will encompass fire inspections, along with public education and community
outreach. In 2019, Blake completed the National Fire Academy’s Managing Officer Program – a multiyear
curriculum that introduces emerging emergency services leaders to personal and professional skills in
change management, risk reduction and adaptive leadership. Blake also completed his Bachelor of Science
degree in Fire Administration and Fire Investigation, which he worked on over the last 3 years and recently
graduated Magna Cum Laude. Blake is a State Certified Fire Investigator, receiving his training through the
Wisconsin Department of Justice, State Fire Marshals office. We are proud of Blake’s accomplishments and
excited for his leadership in our new CRR division.

2023 CFD Annual Report

The 2023 Annual Report provides a summary of the year to include statistics for all Fire and EMS call responses, training hours, public education and stand-by events covered by our members, as well as reports from Officers in our Fire and EMS companies.

previous slide
next slide

Cedarburg Fire Department