Pine River Volunteer Fire Department

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Merrill, WI
Pine River Volunteer Fire Department

We were established in 2005 and are a volunteer fire department in the town of Pine River to better protect it.

06/23/2026

Lincoln County's Emergency Management has launched a new program to provide community alerts. To sign up for this free program, follow the instructions below. A better-informed community is a better prepared community.

06/08/2026

On the morning of June 8, 2026, at 5:44 AM, the Pine River Fire Department was dispatched to W4032 State Rd 64 in the Town of Pine River for a barn fire. Initial reports were that the barn was fully engulfed in flames when the 911 call was placed.

Firefighters arrived on the scene to find the heavy smoke and flames showing from all sides with the roof already collapsed. A defensive attack was initiated, and the fire was brought under control within 15 minutes; however, firefighters worked for another two hours on overhaul and extinguishing small pockets of fire.

The property owner advised the building was being used for small animal storage and it contained rabbits, turkeys, and chickens. Although some chickens extricated themselves, most of the animals inside were believed to have been lost in the fire.

Although damage limited the investigation, the property owner did state that a heating lamp was in use the night prior to the fire.

Because the barn was set back from the road far enough, fire operations were conducted with minimal impact on traffic on State Rd 64.

After the initial dispatch, a MABAS box alarm to the working still level was requested but later canceled as Pine River had adequate personal on the scene to manage it. Merrill Fire Dept did establish a fill site for PRFD at the AmericInn.

05/27/2026

On the fourth Tuesday of the month a group of firefighters gather to spend hours going through all of our motorized equipment.

From checking fluid levels in engines, making sure chain saws are ready to go at a moments notice, to even making sure all the flares and cones are ready to go.

As a reward, we feed those who show up. Some months it is a nice homemade dinner, others times it is simply pizza.

This evening with the hot temps Subway of Merrill was the choice.

When one of our members arrived to pick up the order we found this great note from Manager Jessica Klement and her team of Sandwich Artists along with the message that dinner was on them this month.

Thanks for the great food guys! It was a huge hit!

05/26/2026

Throughout the spring and summer the fire climate season is ever changing. Thankfully, Lt. Brad Hartwig keeps up our DNR sign by monitoring the reports and changing the sign to match the conditions every single day.

Tonight, we had a visitor, seems old Smokey the Bear himself came around to make sure we were keeping his sign up to date. (We were)

05/20/2026

It is that time of year again, pool fill season.

The Pine River Fire Department provides pool fills, ONLY in the Town of Pine River.

We have numerous reasons for providing this service. With the most important being we use each individual trip to train on driving and operating, along with pumping.

There is something else we do; it is sort of a secret. While we are at your home pumping water, we plan. We talk to our younger firefighters and say, what would you do if this home has a fire tomorrow? Where would you park the engine, where is the best place for the tankers to line up, where is the nearest water source?

This training helps the young men and women who are the future of this department work through scenarios that are not in a book or on a tablet.

The water we deliver, which is 3,000 gallons at a time, we purchase directly from the city water works, so it is not pond water.

It should also be noted; we have two 3,000 gallon tanker trucks. On good weather weekends we can get both tankers staffed and out filling numerous pools, however one truck always has a full load of water just in case.

The last reason we do it? As a service to you. Oh, and much like your pool, because we are cool too!

The cost is $120 for the first load, and $100 for each additional.

So, if you live in the town, call Tony Hartwig at 715-409-3252. He does work swing shifts at times, so you might want to text him, or please be patient for a return call.

05/18/2026

It is National EMS Week!

Formed in November of 2006, Pine River First Responders are dispatched on average to 75 med calls per year.

We are proud to announce that recently PRFD First Responders received a grant from the State of Wisconsin EMS funding assistance program of over $15,000.

We have used that money to purchase equipment for our responders, including three new AED’s.

These AED’s are now in the hands of every first responder in the township, along with several front line response fire vehicles.

We have funds remaining that we hope to use to recruit, train and equip additional first responders in the town.

IF you are interested in becoming a first responder in the Town of Pine River, we would like you to join us at our monthly meeting. Always held the second Wednesday of the month at 6PM at the fire station, N1622 Range Line Rd.

If you are already an RN, we can get you state certified very quickly thanks to a state bridge program.

05/16/2026

Fire danger is now Very High, all permits are canceled. Please be very careful while working outside today, the smallest spark could create a catastrophe.

05/15/2026

Despite our early morning rain, we remain High on the fire danger, and all burning permits are canceled.

Note the extreme conditions north and west of us where the DNR has issued red flag warnings. With no rain in the forecast until Sunday, we need to be very aware going forward this weekend.

05/12/2026

The rain has turned us a new color for the day, you can cautiously follow the instructions on your DNR burning permit and burn today.

05/10/2026

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, especially the moms that serve as members of PRFD.

Address

N1622 Rangeline Road
Merrill, WI
54452

Telephone

+17155393255

Website

http://www.pineriverfd.com/

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