Steve Hansen is the Fire Chief for the City of Racine Wisconsin and is completing 38 years of service this summer.  Starting his career with the Racine Fire Department in August of 1981 Chief Hansen has worked his way up through the ranks of the department and was appointed Chief by the Racine Police and Fire Commission in January of 2006.  Chief Hansen has served as a firefighter, Paramedic, Company Officer and Division Chief of Fire Prevention prior to his current position.  The City of Racine has a population of 80,000 residents and is located in the shadows of Milwaukee and Chicago.  The department consists of 6 fire station and 141 members including Suppression, EMS, Fire Prevention, SE Wisconsin Regional Haz Mat and Regional Tech Rescue.

 

Chief Hansen’s educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and a Graduate Degree in Human Resource Management & Labor Law from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  In addition to university education Chief Hansen has participated in many National Fire Academy classes including Haz Mat Site Operating Practices, Haz Mat Incident Management, Terrorism Planning, Command & General Staff Functions, Incident Command/EOC, All Hazards COML/COMT, Command & Control of Natural and Manmade Disasters, and Executive Planning along with many other fire related coursework. 

 

Chief Hansen is well versed in radio communications and interoperability at the local, state and federal level.  Chief Hansen is a gubernatorial appointee to the Wisconsin Interoperability Council representing the Fire Service and MABAS Wisconsin.  In his role on the Interoperability Council he has been deeply involved in the development of the statewide interoperability trunking system known as WISCOM.  In addition he is currently involved in the development of FIRSTNET in Wisconsin. Of particular interest Chief Hansen is the Subject Matter Expert for HERC Region 7 hospitals.  He is working closely with hospitals in Southeast Wisconsin in developing their WISCOM capabilities for EMS and Hospital communications.

 

Chief Hansen is a frequent presenter on radio communications and interoperability in Wisconsin putting layperson’s terms what firefighters and EMT’s need to know about radio communications and interoperability.