Why do I see fire trucks from neighboring departments at fires in Lawrence?
Answer
The Lawrence Fire department has automatic aid/mutual aid agreements with all of the fire departments in Brown County and neighboring departments in Outagamie County. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that for every structure fire that there be a minimum of 15 firefighters on scene within 8 minutes. Lawrence is a small department, often times with limited personnel available. Having these agreements allows us to put those initial 15 firefighters on scene in a relatively quick timeframe and often times extinguishing the fire in short order. If the fire continues to spread we will then activate the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) which in turn sends additional apparatus and firefighters from a larger area.