Cedarburg Fire Department
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.
Behind the Scenes: Fire and Rescue
We can’t say enough about these two incredible young men who represent the very best of what it means to serve the Cedarburg community through Fire and EMS services.
Colt and Benny truly embody maturity, professionalism, and courtesy in all they do at the department. They lead by example and are shining role models for their generation – showing just how rewarding a career in the fire service can be! We are lucky to have them on our team responding to calls and supporting our community!
Cedarburg Fire Department Awards Banquet 2025
2024 Awards Presented to CFD Members
Cedarburg Fire Department Awards and Recognition Program
Each year, the Cedarburg Fire Department recognizes the achievements of the past year for Active, Passive
and Honorary members at their Awards and Recognition Program. This year, the awards banquet was held
on April 5th at the Ozaukee Pavilion. Our members enjoyed a sit-down catered dinner and bingo games
provided by The Cedarburg Lion’s Club.
Chief Vahsholtz and Deputy Chief Heidtke presented Service Awards to the following active and passive
members:
• 5 years: Nick Janous Active Fire and Mike Kranz Active EMS/Fire
• 10 years: Dustin Halyburton Active Fire/Dive Team Leader
• 15 years: Norine Nelson Active EMT
• 25 years Honorary: Joel Bublitz Active Fire
• 25 years Honorary Passive: Angela Steffen
• 25 years Honorary Active to Passive: Denise Boerner-Lily
A special presentation was made to Bill Hintz, who just retired after 40 years of active service. He was
presented with a pin, a challenge coin, and a retired Assistant Chief badge. Bill also received a
proclamation from the WI State Assembly authored by Representative Paul Melotik, District 22 of Grafton
along with an American flag and a State flag that was flown over the State Capitol Building. The National
Volunteer Fire Council also honored Bill’s years of service with an Honorable Mention Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Retired Deputy Chief Jeff Boerner and Retired Chief Richard Van Dinter each received special recognition
for 50 years of service, which not many people achieve as it is awarded to those who truly give continuous
service to the community. Rich and Jeff both have a very long list of achievements representing their
dedication to the fire service. The Ozaukee County Association of Fire Departments, represented by
Waubeka Fire Chief Jason Caswell, attended the banquet, and presented awards for their 50 years of
service to Rich and Jeff.
The following members were recognized for First Responder of the Year 2024, responding to the most
calls in the following categories:
Fire Calls: Bill Hintz and Chris Naas (tied at 87 each)
Rescue Calls: Nick Lesselyoung (209)
Total Calls: Kris Mathias (257)
Some of our CFD members celebrated the completion of their one-year probation with a pinning
ceremony. City of Cedarburg Clerk, Tracie Sette, administered the oath of office for four members in
attendance: Jamie Wilhelme, Rob Henry, Andy Schottler, and Caitlin Steinberg.
Tracie also administered an oath of office to Blake Karnitz for his promotion to Captain of Community
Risk Reduction. Blake was promoted in August 2024, continuing to perform fire inspections for businesses
in the City and Town, overseeing the fire inspection bureau and its related duties, and managing our Public
Education and Community Outreach, which involves direct communication with our community groups,
schools, business owners and residents.
The highest award from the Cedarburg Fire Department is the Meritorious Service Award, presented to
a department member who exudes a passion for the fire service, and has shared their time and
commitment, not only to their family, but also to their extended CFD family. This year the award was
presented to John Vollmar. Keeping it a surprise for him, his family had to somehow convince him to
postpone their Florida trip by a few days!
Picture shown L to R: Honorary member John Vollmar (with his family) receives the Meritorious Service Award from Deputy Chief Andy Heidtke and Chief 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 73 paid-on-call and 8 Full-Time people, which include paramedics as we continue to build on our paramedic services. We are hiring 2 more paramedics in 2025! In 2024, our EMS and Fire personnel responded to 1,602 calls, while continuously training to keep our skills sharp.
Active paid-on-call and Passive support 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 2025.