Longtime Hazmat Leader Rob Ready Retires

"'Hope' is not a plan," a good friend once told Rob Ready. "So having Plans A, B, C, D, and E is what's unique about the fire service."

 

It's also what intrigued Ready to consider the fire service back in 1981. Ready first stepped foot in the world of fire/EMS as a high school student in La Crescent, Minnesota, where kids his age were trained to become first responders— with their health education teacher at the helm.

 

"We couldn't drive or run the siren, but we figured we could get out of school and we could run some EMS calls," Ready remembers.

 

Originally set on becoming an athletic trainer and going into physical education, this early exposure to firefighting and EMS changed the trajectory of Ready's life. He went on to serve with Tri-State Ambulance and with a volunteer department in Coralville, Iowa. He was hired by the Madison Fire Department in 1995 and served for 29 years until his retirement on January 5, 2025.

 

Ready was drawn to the MFD by the wealth of opportunities he saw within the department— the ability to grow professionally, achieve different ranks, explore special teams, and to be a part of the Training Division.

 

In Madison, his tenure began at Fire Station 5 on the east side. He moved to Station 9 on Midvale Boulevard, then served at Station 6 on the south side until being activated to serve as a paramedic. 

 

In 2002, he was promoted to Apparatus Engineer, a rank he enjoyed for the variety of equipment he was able to work with and operate. He has been a lieutenant since 2009. In this role, he delighted in the opportunity to develop newer firefighters and help nurture their strengths.

 

"As a lieutenant, you can afford them the autonomy to grow, give them the parameters and the equipment to work with, and let them run with it," said Ready. "And the results are incredible."

 

Ready's career path took him to stations all over the city, elevated him through different ranks, and included time on the department's Apparatus Committee. But one thing that remained unchanged along the way was his status as a member of the Hazardous Incident Team (HIT).

 

"My first lieutenant was one of the founders of the Madison Hazmat Team. It turned out to be one of the best places to start," said Ready of his time at Station 5 with Lt. Dwight Williams.
 

For the past 14 years, Ready has led the HIT on the 'C' shift, where he took pride in orchestrating various initiatives on behalf of the team.

 

In 2019, when the HIT was tasked with finding a brand of firefighting foam that doesn't contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, Ready helped oversee the effort. In collaboration with fellow HIT leaders and team members, multiple brands of foam were considered, each purporting to be friendlier to the environment and non-caustic to firefighters while still maintaining great fire suppression capabilities. 

 

An independent study of the foam products was carried out to confirm they did not contain the substances casually known as "forever chemicals." When the study corroborated the sales pitches, and the department chose its preferred brand, the effort to replace the foam on all MFD rigs was swift.

 

"All three shifts were involved in the review and testing of the foam, and we got it done within about 45 days," said Ready. "Getting those opportunities to work collaboratively is the cool part about our job."

 

Ready ends his career with gratitude for having been able to serve in a job that he loved from the very beginning.

 

"We have great people in our kitchen, we have good laughs, and there's always stories. I think we've had eight runs so far today and nothing's been the same," he said on a recent afternoon at Fire Station 7.

 

With his sights set on retirement, he'll find ways to keep life interesting. Ready looks forward to coaching middle school and high school youth in New Glarus, and you may also find him riding horses and roping cows, in addition to spending time with his wife. For the first time in a while, he doesn't need a plan.

 

"We'll take each day as it comes and see what happens."