Meet Lieutenant Mark Miller

Tell us about your role at MFD.

I am currently assigned as a Lieutenant with the Fire Training Division. 

We are responsible for new recruit training, apprenticeship training, and quarterly fire training for the entire department. We conduct orientation training for promotable firefighters, paramedics, apparatus engineers, and lieutenants. We also work in conjunction with the Fire Fighters Local 311 Health and Safety Committee on fire apparatus familiarization and research and development on new equipment and PPE. We coordinate acquired structure training, which would include live burns under NFPA 1403, and we make sure everything is compliant with those burns. 

When did you start your career? 

I started with Madison Fire in 2008. 

What keeps you passionate about the fire service? 

The younger generation that is coming into the fire service. They are thirsty for knowledge and eager to learn new things. 

What are you most grateful for in your career? 

The people that really took the time to help me learn the job, starting from my early years of learning the operational components of the fire engines and ladder trucks to being able to drive and operate them. People like Tom Reiter, Rob Ready, and Brian Lofy. I'm grateful for people like Chief Blumer, Jimmy Ahn, and Frank Jonczyk for helping me articulate knowledge and fire skills into teaching formats for others to learn from. And lastly, for all the training teams I got to work with over the years, from the beginning of my time in Fire Training with Chief Ripp and Paul Schecklman, to the current team that became State Certified Live Burn Instructors at the same time, Brad Olson and Cameron Gasaway.