The Fire Chief’s Blog

Although Friday the 22nd of December was not officially Dan Carlson’s last day, he will not be around too much between now and the end of January, his official last day. Dan and I have been virtually inseparable over the last 4+ years that we have been the chiefs of our respective organizations.

The two of us talked early about bringing our two organizations even closer together than they had been in the past. I think that will be one of the legacies that Dan will leave behind, knowing that he and we modeled having fire and police completely involved at all levels of each other’s organizations. I will miss Dan’s company and his insights into various issues that come up from time to time. You can go to the link I have provided and listen to a pod cast from a meeting this morning where Dan, Scott Neal, Griff Wigley and I chatted with Dan about his career and other thoughts.

The link is: http://edenprairieweblogs.org/scottneal/post/779

I am also looking forward to working with the new Police Chief, Rob Reynolds. I have worked closely with Rob on a number of projects over the past few years and know that what has been built here will continue to develop into even a more dynamic system.

So please join me in wishing Dan well and welcoming Rob into his new career as Police Chief. By the way here is a link to the website for Dan’s new career. Dan’s new organization is called Public Safety Ministries and the link is: http://www.publicsafetyministries.org/

Last weekend the Fire Department provided bell ringers at the Salvation Army kettles at Rainbow Foods. This has become a tradition for the Fire Service around the country and one that our department really gets up for too. Firefighters rang the bells from 10:AM until 8:PM last Saturday. The weather was warm, around 50, the sun was out and there was a steady flow of people on a busy pre-holiday weekend.

The Salvation Army does a lot of good in the community at large and also provides meal services to emergency responders at bigger/ longer emergency scenes. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and by lending them a hand with bell ringing the fire service is able to help increase donations, their main source of operating revenue.

So when you see a Salvation Army kettle, maybe you can dig for some change and help out too.

Happy Holidays!

The firefighters at Station #2 decorated this pumper for the day’s event

Fire Inspector Tony Liddell was recently recognized for his completion of the entire Performance Partnership series of classes. These classes are an integral part of reinforcing the City of Eden Prairie’s core values. Those values are: Teamwork, Customer Focus, Flexibility, Initiative, Results Orientation and Public Stewardship.

The classes range from half day long to full day and cover each topic with lecture, hands-on exercises and video presentations. I am pleased that Tony has made the completion of this valuable series of classes a priority. I know that the rest of the Building Department and Fire staff are working toward their completion of the classes as well.

For his efforts Tony received a nice looking and functional executive folder.

Pictured below is Tony Liddell (left) and his supervisor, Fire Marshal, Allen Nelson exchanging a well deserved handshake for a job well done.

Several weeks ago Culvers ran a special event and a percentage of sales for that day were donated to our HeartSafe Eden Prairie program. The HeartSafe Eden Prairie program phase I placed over 20 AEDs in every city and school district building in our city. All the money for that program was raised from the private sector.

Kevin Hart (middle) the Culvers Store Manager stopped by to deliver the donation the night of the Eden Prairie Reads event at fire station #1. City Manager, Scott Neal (right), and I were more than happy to accept the donation on behalf of the HeartSafe Eden Prairie program.

Culvers has been a strong supporter of the fire department’s programs since they opened their doors in Eden Prairie. Their support is greatly appreciated!