The Story of the Maltese Cross
The badge of a fireman is the Maltese Cross. This Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection and a badge of honor. Its story is hundreds of years old. 
When a courageous band of crusaders, the Knights of St. John, fought the Saracens for possession of the Holy Lands, they were faced with a new device of war – fire.
As the crusaders advanced on Jerusalem, the Saracens pelted them with glass bombs full of naphtha and then threw down laming torches. Hundreds of knights were burned alive while others risked their lives to save their kinsmen from painful deaths. Thus these became the first firefighters. Their heroic efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded them with a badge of honor similar to the cross firefighters wear today.
Since the Knights of St. John lived nearly four centuries on the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross. The firefighter who wears this cross is willing to lay down his life for others, just as the crusaders sacrificed their lives for their fellow man so many years ago.
A Day in the Life of a Firefighter
Our firefighters work a 'California shift'. They are on duty 24 hours, off 24, on 24, off 24, on 24, off 4 days. We have 3 shifts - red, blue and green shifts - each with 35 firefighters. In addition to emergency response services, firefighters continually train and take care of their firehouses and equipment. Here's a typical day (all this plus responding to calls at a moment's notice):
- Start at 0800 with roll call, update of daily events, exchange of information from the shift going off duty.
- Perform equipment and apparatus checks.
- Attend to house duties, such as cleaning and maintenance.
- Lunch. The firefighters pool their money and buy groceries for lunch and dinner. Some shifts have certain firefighters who usually do all the cooking because they enjoy it; other shifts rotate the cooking duties.
- Afternoons could be spent in training, doing fire inspections of local businesses, apartments and manufacturing facilities, or participating in community events.
- Dinner.
- Stand-by time. Some firefighters use this time to complete incident reports, training or special projects, watch television, study or workout. Each station has a workout room.
- The shift is relieved at 0800 by the oncoming shift.
Throughout the 24-hour time period, our firefighters respond to an average of 16 calls. 63% of our emergency calls are for EMT/Paramedic service. The remaining 37% of calls are for fire suppression, extrication, confined space rescue, ice rescue, and water rescue.
Above: July 4, 2007- FF Boehlke showing off his gear during the Whitefish Bay Fourth of July Parade. Below: Sparky and FF Boehlke waving to parade onlookers.
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