Hall of Fame Inductees July 14th 2000 – Superior, WI
For thirty years, starting in 1960, Daniel Kalascheur worked as a police officer for the Madison Police Department. Midway through his career, on January 8, 1975, Officer Kalascheur was faced with a call that all officers continually train for but seldom occur.
As Officer Kalascheur was taking care of an earlier call, a call came in for an armed robbery taking place at the Commercial State Bank, and that a suspect vehicle was fleeing the scene. Heading towards the direction of the call, several radio reports were being given and a number of other squad cars were in the area searching for the robbers. A bank employee that had been following the getaway car flagged down Officer Kalascheur and told him the car was parked behind a store. As Officer Kalascheur drove to where the car was, he got his first look at one of the suspects.
Seeing Officer Kalascheur, the robber ran to an awaiting car. At a distance of only ten to fifteen feet, the robber started shooting at Officer Kalascheur. Both Officer Kalascheur and the robbers maneuvered their cars to try and get to an advantageous position. Officer Kalascheur moved his squad car back and forth to try and make himself a much more difficult target to hit and was also able to fire a few rounds at the robbers. The getaway car suddenly took off, starting the chase over again.
During this chase Officer Kalascheur was able to get his shotgun, load it, and after a number of turns, faced the suspects as they were taking up a defensive position behind their getaway car. At a distance of only twenty feet, Officer Kalascheur saw the driver pointing his handgun directly at another police officer and was able to stop him by using his shotgun. At seeing his accomplice fall, the second suspect dropped his weapon and raised his hands in surrender.
Officer Kalascheur’s squad car was later found to have had 18 bullet holes. When asked about this, he said, “Well, they missed my car a number of times.” Also a bystander was injured as he was shot at by one of the robbers as he was attempting to forcibly take his truck.
The two bank robbers were an extreme danger to the community and in the surviving suspects statement to another officer said that the robbery “…was meant to be successful.”
On the morning of March 21, 1997, the Madison Police Department was dispatched to a home in the city’s west side. The man they were sent to look for lived with his elderly parents and had a felony warrant out for his arrest. He was evading a jail sentence.
Officer Andy Garcia arrived at the home, ahead of Officer Tim Hahn, and contacted the wanted man in his basement. Officer Garcia told the man that he was going to be taken into custody. At hearing this, the man tried to escape by punching and forcing his way past Officer Garcia, and then locked himself in a bathroom just as Officer Hahn arrived on the scene. Officer Garcia asked Officer Hahn to try and get a key to the bathroom from the man’s parents, who were still upstairs. As Officer Hahn started climbing the stairway, the man suddenly emerged from the bathroom with a handgun and started shooting at Officer Garcia at point-blank range. Officer Garcia, being taken completely by surprise, did not have an opportunity to return fire. As he was trying to take cover, he was able to shout a warning to Officer Hahn, but all three shots had struck Officer Garcia, who fell to the floor.
Hearing the gunshots, Officer Hahn ran back down the stairs, where he saw the gunman advancing toward the stricken officer, getting ready to shoot again. Officer Hahn immediately engaged the gunman before he could do more harm to Officer Garcia. A barrage of shots were fired between the gunman and Officer Hahn. This was done as Officer Hahn stood in the open stairway with no cover to protect himself. Narrowly missed by all of the attackers bullets, Officer Hahn returned fire until the gunman was no longer a danger to anyone; he then removed the gunman’s weapon and handcuffed him.
His job not done yet, Officer Hahn called for an ambulance and checked on the condition of Officer Garcia, he also radioed to the other responding officers to use caution as the scene was not yet safe. He then cleared the entire basement, checking for additional threats before advising the other officers that it was safe to enter the basement.
It is only because of Officer Timothy Hahn’s courage, quick action, and highly trained response to this deadly threat that the two officers survived this savage attack. Officer Garcia, who survived his wounds partially due to the fact that he was wearing his ballistic vest, believes that he would be surly been killed had Officer Hahn not intervened at the precise moment that he did.
Deputy Chief William Voboril is being inducted into the Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievement in the fire service. In 1996, after 35 years of dedicated service to the Milwaukee Fire Department, Deputy Chief William Voboril retired, but his work will continue to pave the way for hundreds, if not thousands, of better educated, better equipped, and safer firefighters.
William Voboril started as a firefighter in 1961. During the ensuing years, he developed and spearheaded many projects, including the current FOCUS (Firefighters Out Creating Urban Safety) program, which has greatly reduced fire deaths in targeted areas. While assigned to the Bureau of Instruction and Training, Voboril taught nearly 600 of Milwaukee’s firefighter recruits.
This figure represents over half of the department. He developed new procedures for Milwaukee’s high rise operations, augmented the “Back to Basics” operations, and led the effort to change hose size from 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inch (this act alone nearly doubled the efficiency of Milwaukee’s engine companies). When the push was on to create a hazardous materials team, Voboril was on the steering committee and became its first training officer. Likewise, when the Incident Command System was being organized in Milwaukee, he was there. In 1982, the American Legion selected him as the State of Wisconsin Firefighter of the Year. Deputy Chief Voboril also was instrumental in building the Survive Alive House and in establishing the Foundation for the Milwaukee Fire Education Center, which ensures the continuation of the Survive Alive House, located at 2059 South 20th Street in Milwaukee. He has lectured all around the State of Wisconsin and beyond, spreading his experienced words of wisdom wherever they were needed.
Deputy Chief Voboril’s career is much greater than this partial list of accomplishments. The result is that every time al call comes in to the Milwaukee Fire Department, or many other fire departments, part of their professional response can be credited directly to the work of Deputy Chief William Voboril.
Just after 7am, December 19, 1999, the Appleton Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire on the city’s southwest side. While on the way, dispatchers told them that several calls were coming in reporting that flames were coming out of the home’s second story windows. Reports also came in that someone may still be inside the burning home. Engine 323 was the first to arrive. The engine crew consisted of Lieutenant Larry O’Rourke, Driver/Engineer Al Stuart, Firefighter Linda Kornely, and Firefighter Roman Zareczny.
The crew pulled a 1-3/4 inch hoseline into the house and took it directly up the stairway to the second floor. When they reached the second floor, they were greeted by the quickly growing fire and thick smoke that had been reported to them. As they crawled forward, they knocked down much of this fire and continued on through the thick smoke. They crawled forward through the heated living room, towards the kitchen, where they located Joyce Coutts, lying motionless on the floor. At this time, Firefighter Kornely, aided by two members of the truck company, removed her from the burning home. To allow her removal, Lieutenant O’Rourke and Firefighter Zareczny had to continue fighting the fire. Once outside she was rushed to St. Elizabeth Hospital, where after a five day stay, she was released. Joyce Coutts is now doing fine and has stopped by the fire station to thank the firefighters for all of their effort.
In the late afternoon hours of March 24, 2015, Trooper Trevor Casper of the Wisconsin State Patrol located the vehicle of an armed and dangerous suspect the FBI and Michigan authorities had been searching for in relation to numerous bank robberies and a homicide.
Wisconsin State Patrol
Milwaukee Fire Department
Town of Campbell Fire Department
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