Madison Fire Department taking new step to hire more veterans

It's a move Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis says is the first of it's kind in Wisconsin. Next week, the department will start actively recruiting current and former military members.

Davis said, \"So many of their job skills are transferable that they've learned in the military and serving our country. They come to us that we've seen that they're, they can handle crisis fairly well.\"

Next Wednesday, the department is holding an open house just for people with military experience.

Davis says about 15 percent of his department is made up of current and former military members.

A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Fire Department says about a quarter of the staff is made up of people with military experience. In Milwaukee, there is no recruitment effort that specifically targets veterans. However, people with military experience do receive preference points at various steps in the testing process.