The Fire Chief’s Blog

At the Fire Department’s March Business Meeting, Firefighter Kurt Schendel was honored for his 17 years of extraordinary and selfless service to the citizens of Eden Prairie and his fellow firefighters. Kurt came to the Fire Department 17 years ago with firefighting in his blood, as they say. Kurt’s father was a long-time firefighter in Beloit, Wisconsin who rose to the rank of Assistant Chief there.

I had the privilege of working directly with Kurt for much of his time here, when we both responded out of Fire Station Three. Kurt and I both lived close to the fire station and often times rode together on the first truck out of there to numerous emergency calls. Through those kinds of shared experiences a close bond often forms and those bonds last a lifetime, as I am certain mine and Kurt’s will.

As you can see from the picture below, Kurt has many close friends in the organization. From left to right are: Firefighter Chuck Siebert, Firefighter Aaron Casper and Firefighter Kurt Schendel. Thanks again, Kurt for your dedicated service!

Several weeks ago a team made up of three Eden Prairie firefighters and two Eden Prairie police officers played in the Excelsior Fire Department’s “4 on 4 Hockey Challenge”. The Eden Prairie team also played in the tournament last year, taking second.

Well this year the Eden Prairie team took first place! I have heard from a couple of our players them that they were a bit sore for a few days, but it always feels a little less painful when you win. This is just another shining example of what happens when fire and police are on the same team! Way to go guys, could this be a dynasty in the making? The pressure is on for next year.

Players on the team are pictured below and from left to right are: Assistant Fire Chief, Rick Hammerschmidt, Firefighter Eric Meiners, Fire Lieutenant Glenn Toewe, Police Officer Zach Hessel and Police Officer Travis Serafin.

Pete Carlson, son of former Eden Prairie Police chief Dan Carlson, is shaving his head again this year for an organization called St. Baldricks, and all the money raised goes to help research for childhood cancer. The “Shavees”, shave their heads in honor of the brave kids that very often loose their hair due to the treatments used.

In Fairbanks where Pete goes to college, the fire service is very active in this event, they are the main sponsor
and everyone in the fire service makes some sort of contribution to the cause.

Pete is an active member of the fire service in the Fairbanks area, working part-time for the Steese Fire Department, and wants to become a full-time firefighter at some point in the future. Pete is asking that you sponsor him, his team, or the event as a whole by donating a little extra money so that these kids get helped out. To help out, please go to www.stbaldricks.org and click on either the “Find a Participant” button on the top navigation bar, or the “donate now” button and type in either Pete Carlson’s name or Steese Fire Department (the team that Pete is on). Below is a picture of Pete at last year’s event.

Even with his head shaved he looks better than his Dad!

Last week at the Annual Governors conference for Emergency Managers, Eden Prairie Fire Lieutenant Bill Beumer received his Emergency Management Certificate. Bill has worked very hard to gain this prestigious certification over the past few years. It takes a lot of effort to get through the extensive array of classes while balancing full-time work, family and Bill’s Eden Prairie Fire Department responsibilities.

Eden Prairie Fire now has a good number of certified emergency managers, that is a good thing, especially if we get a significant event that requires a lot of expertise to bring the event to a successful conclusion.

Pictured below is Lt. Beumer along with the State’s Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Kris Eide. Way to go Bill!

Last week we had a “little snow event” that created some big traffic problems. Luckily for the two passengers in the car pictured below, they had their seatbelts on and escaped this rollover without even a scratch. The car was totaled.

In Minnesota, a little snow can mean big problems on the roadways.