ELKHORN, Wis. — The Elkhorn Area Fire Department Chief has been placed on administrative assignment and is under investigation.
This comes days after members of his department sat down for an interview with TMJ4's Chief Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae.
"The people need to know what's going on," EAFD Lieutenant Tristan McNamara said.
"This is about what the people don't know, and if nobody's talking about it, then the community doesn't know," EAFD Paramedic Jess Nicikowski echoed.
This is TMJ4's investigative series, "Understaffed and Under Fire." It's a series of stories that dives into the intricacies and safety concerns staff at EAFD have been trying to make public.
More than a year ago, EAFD members contacted Jenna Rae, who's been investigating since then. These stories not only impact EAFD, but portions of Walworth County as a whole.
THE 2020 REFERENDUM AND STAFFING GUIDELINES
"I started this job because my dad's really sick, so I wanted to know how to better take care of him, but I also just really love taking care of people," Nicikowski said.
For McNamara and Nicikowski, those people are the folks living in the City of Elkhorn, the Town of Geneva, the Town of Sugar Creek, and the Town of Lafayette. All of which make up the Elkhorn Area Fire Department (EAFD).
EAFD is a full-time fire and EMS department that was voted on and passed by taxpayers in a 2020 referendum, which totaled more than $7 million.
The referendum's proposal is the only public document we could find that notes where the referendum money is going and what it's being used for. Some fliers that were sent out to taxpayers in 2019, which are already public documents, were sent to TMJ4 by Elkhorn's City Administrator; however, we have no other specific information regarding what the referendum money is being used for, as Elkhorn city leaders have declined all interview requests.
The proposal requires a minimum of eight on-duty staff per shift, with at least two paramedics.
"That's not happening?" Jenna Rae asked.
"No. We've only been fully staffed like a matter of weeks, for maybe one time," Nicikowski said. "Right now, we only have four paramedics. I'm one of four."
"And there's two of you supposed to be on a shift at a time?" Rae asked.
"Correct," McNamara responded.
"But we're currently staffing one per shift, and then two for one shift," Nicikowski echoed.
Watch: Elkhorn Fire Chief under investigation after TMJ4 interview
A LACK OF STAFFING AND AN INCREASED NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE
Staffing numbers, provided by EAFD, show that since 2023, the department has never averaged the required eight people on shift.
That's despite call volume increasing after the referendum.
"So you guys are consistently not meeting the referendum requirements that not only taxpayers voted on, but are also paying for," Rae asked.
"Yeah, yup," both McNamara and Nicikowski answered.
Post-referendum, EAFD runs around 2,400 calls for service annually. Many of those calls are coming in at the same time.
Over the past few years, simultaneous calls for service doubled, with an average of 278 calls a year before the referendum to an average of 554 calls after the referendum.
It's important to note that although calls for service in general increased, they only went up by a few hundred on average.
A LACK OF CITY SUPPORT AND HOW IT'S IMPACTING PUBLIC SAFETY
The lack of staffing, coupled with rising calls for service and simultaneous calls, is a problem that Nicikowski and McNamara said not only impacts their workload but also the community's safety.
"Not only is it just a matter of time something fatal will happen, but it's only a matter of time before more people walk away, and then the situation becomes much more dire. It very much seems like the city doesn't even want to listen to our like administration," Nicikowski explained.
City support is something Nicikowski and McNamara said EAFD staff has been begging for, for years.
This comes as the town of Lafayette provided notice that it's pulling out of the EAFD. Meaning, funding is dwindling.
Internal emails, obtained by TMJ4, show that in February, Elkhorn City Administrator Adam Swann told department directors they have a more than $293,000 gap to fill.
"The words from the city were 'nothing is off the table, and the first thing we're looking at is staffing cuts,'" McNamara said.
In a March 2026 Elkhorn Common Council meeting, city leaders proposed hiring an outside firm to conduct a staffing study, which they estimated would cost taxpayers $10,000 to $15,000.
"Can you guys afford to cut staffing right now?" Rae asked.
"No, no. We're already operating as close to minimum as we already can be," Nicikowski responded.
Elkhorn's Fire Chief, Trent Eichmann, agrees.
Internal emails show that on March 12, Eichmann wrote to Swann saying, "I am not for reductions in staff, due to the safety of residents we are sworn to protect."
Residents who live outside of the city of Elkhorn are already waiting for longer services.
According to a Bray Architects study from last year, EAFD is meeting the nationally recognized response time 99 percent of the time within the city of Elkhorn. That number drops below 50 percent when they're responding to calls in Sugar Creek, Lafayette and Geneva.
"We're trying to handle two medical calls and a car accident at the same time, and now a cardiac arrest comes out, and we have nobody. What are the costs of that? I think that's the answer the community should be looking for," McNamara explained.
"Why am I paying for eight people, but I only get six?" he continued.
CITY OF ELKHORN LEADERS REFUSE TMJ4 INTERVIEW
TMJ4 tried taking the questions and concerns from EAFD staff to city leaders.
In March, we requested an interview with Fire Chief Trent Eichmann.
The next day, we received an email from City Administrator Swann instead. He sent us several already publicly available documents related to the generalities of the referendum.
Swann, in an email, said, "Chief Eichmann was not employed by the city at the time of the referendum, so he doesn't have first-hand knowledge and would have limited information." He then said only he and Mayor Tim Shiroda could answer those questions.
We asked Swann and Mayor Shiroda for an interview about the referendum requirements, staffing, building conditions, and public safety.
Our multiple requests for an interview were denied.
"We collectively, as a fire department, have a different narrative than I think Adam [Swann] would like us to have. I wouldn't be doing a service to my community, or to the people that I work with, if we don't stand up for what's right," Nicikowski added.
This is just part one of a multi-part series, "Understaffed and Under Fire." Friday, we'll detail the fire house's condition and an ongoing state investigation into it.
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