City of Madison Fire Department
Attn: Division Chief Jerome Buechner
314 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53703

Phone: (608) 266-1162
Fire Administration Fax: 608-267-1100
Email: Fire

In order to more efficiently process your records release request, we ask that you complete this form. This request shall be answered as soon as practicable.

Fire Report Requests
The Supervisor of the Fire / Arson Investigation Division is the custodian of records for all fire incident reports. Reports prepared by Company Fire Officers and Fire / Arson Investigators are reviewed in preparation for release. There are circumstances where fire reports are not releasable due any of the following criteria:
 

  • Pending Criminal Prosecution
  • Active Investigation
  • Sensitive nature of the Investigation
  • Juvenile record
  • Other records involving issues of privacy and reputation, as determined by application of the balancing test
  • Information that may disclose investigative techniques
  • Identifying confidential informant information


A report may be released, however, you may receive a redacted copy due to a juveniles name or medical information which is contained within the report(s).


Responding to a Fire Report Request
Madison Government Ordinance MG(O) 3.70(6)(a) states: The fulfillment of public records requests is a high priority for the City. Therefore, each custodian, upon request for any record, shall, as soon as practicable and without delay, either fill the request or notify the requester of her/his determination to deny the request in whole or in part and the reasons therefore. If a request may take more than ten (10) business days to process, then the custodian must respond to the requestor within those ten days with an estimate of when such processing shall be completed and an explanation of the reasons supporting that estimate.
 
 
RECORDS REQUEST

  • Records are billed at $0.02 per side
  • Color $0.07 per side
  • Flash drive (USB), 2 GB: $5.25
  • Plus postage, if applicable
  • No charge for emailed records or records totaling less than $0.50
  • Location fee: only imposed if the cost of locating the records is $50 or greater.
  • If the cost of the record(s) will be $50 or more, records custodian will request prepayment from requestor.