Fire Chief Boot Camp Recap

Minnesota Board of Firefighter
Training and Education

A guest post by LMCIT Public Safety Specialist Troy Walsh

I was recently asked to attend and present at the second Fire Chief Boot Camp training program, developed by the fire service specialists at the State Fire Marshal’s Division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The first Fire Chief Boot Camp was pre-COVID and was a well-attended success.

Fast forward to December 2021, which landed me at the new Grand Rapids Fire Station for the second boot camp featuring 14 presentations and 25 attendees representing 17 Minnesota fire departments. This fantastic course is what they called a “10,000 foot” look at the MN fire service for fire chiefs and those aspiring to be chief officers.

The training program focuses on the legal obligations, responsibilities, and resources available to help keep fire chiefs and their departments out of legal harm’s way.  All the courses at the Fire Chief Boot Camp are a brief look at what the fire department is involved in, what the fire chief is responsible for, and most of all who they can contact for support!

Some of Minnesota’s best were there to pass on their knowledge and help to the next generation of fire chiefs build successful departments and keep moving forward!

I was able to present on fire department management and liability issues. As fire service tech and equipment change to become safer, we as the fire service also need to update out administrative operations to understand liabilities and reduce the risk.

I shared the Fire Department Management and Liability Issues Memo as a resource for my presentation — it’s a guide of best practices for reducing those risks.  

Other great presentations included:

• Minnesota State Fire Marshal : Special teams, fire service specialists, duty officer, incident support, fire codes, MFIRS, and many other resources.
• Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training & Education (MBFTE): Training reimbursement funding, minimum training requirements, qualified instructors, and leadership training.
• Minnesota Fire Service Foundation – Firefighter funeral assistance, Minnesota Firefighter Memorial.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration – Fire department relations and common citations.
• ISO Mitigation – ISO & evaluations.
• Minnesota State Auditor – Relief associations.
• Minnesota Associations of Townships – Township contracts, relationships, and communications.

Upcoming training

Troy Walsh is the public works and public safety
specialist for the League of Minnesota Cities
Insurance Trust.

The next Fire Chief Boot Camp is going to be at the Albert Lea Fire Department on Feb. 18-19, 2022. Details can be found on the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education (MBFTE) website and you can contact Fire Service Specialist Jared Rozeboom at Jared.Rozeboom@state.mn.us for more information and details on how to be nominated by a fire chief or city/township supervisor to be part of this unique training program.

You can contact me via email at twalsh@lmc.org with any questions about this training or feel free to call (651) 281-1231.

Remember: Responder Safety = Public Safety

In the meantime, stay safe and be careful.