William Rice was appointed as the first full-time Fire Chief for the Village of Grafton on July 16, 2013. Prior to that appointment, Chief Rice was a member of the City of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Fire Department for 26 years. The last 16 years at Wauwatosa, Chief Rice was a Deputy Fire Chief assigned to various Divisions, such as Fire Education, Fire Training, Support Services and later as a Shift Commander. Chief Rice also worked for Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) as their Fire Training Certification Coordinator for 22 years. Chief Rice serves as a Wisconsin Technical College System State Representative in the Fire Service Training Certification Program for Firefighter Testing. Chief Rice has over 20 years of Volunteer Fire Department experience serving in the Village of Bayside Fire Department for 15 years, Village of River Hills Fire Department for 10 years and with the Grafton Fire Department for 5 years prior to appointment as Grafton Fire Chief. Chief Rice was instrumental in working to bring the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) to wide-spread use throughout the State of Wisconsin. This work with MABAS lead to Chief Rice being appointed as the Southeast Regional Coordinator for MABAS Wisconsin. Chief Rice will periodically travel outside of Grafton to help coordinate large scale MABAS emergencies throughout the Southeast area of Wisconsin. Prior to joining the Grafton Volunteer Fire Department in 2008, Chief Rice served as a citizen member of the Grafton Fire and Police Commission for ten years,
Chief Rice, has earned the distinction Executive Fire Officer (EFO) from the National Fire Academy in Emmetsburg, Maryland. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs and the Ozaukee County Fire Chiefs.
Chief Rice and his family have lived in the Village of Grafton for 20 years.
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