Detroit Lakes Volunteer Fire Chief Ryan Swanson Stepping Down; City may Look to Hire Full-Time Paid Chief

Detroit Lakes Fire Chief Ryan Swanson July 26, 2022

DETROIT LAKES (KDLM) – Detroit Lakes Fire Chief Ryan Swanson has announced he will step down as the Chief, but plans to remain a volunteer firefighter with the department prompting the city to look at hiring a full-time Fire Chief.

Swanson has been with the Detroit Lakes Fire Department since 2003 and became the city’s Fire Chief, a volunteer position in 2019 after Chief Scott Flynn retired from the position which he held for six years.

Swanson says with the growth of the city, an increase in fire calls and the need for additional volunteer fire fighters on the department the city needs to create a full-time paid Fire Chief position whose sole focus can be on the Fire Department, “cause then you’re going to get into building inspections and so much other stuff that honestly as the city grows we need to have done – we’re behind the eight ball on it, there’s just a lot here that will make things better and safer.”

The city has seen a rapid growth in fire calls, averaging around 300 per year, an unheard of number just several years ago. Communities like Crookston, Fergus Falls and Alexandria on average are responding to less calls than the Detroit Lakes Department, but have full-time Fire Chiefs and in some cases some additional paid staff.

As a volunteer Fire Chief, Swanson says he’s spending 3-4 hours a day focused on Department needs, which takes time away from his own business, “The businesses that have supported fire chiefs have taken a financial strain to do it…It’s not just the fire calls, it’s all the other stuff, it’s the phone calls and writing the grants and working with insurance companies…it all takes time.”

The idea of a full-time Chief isn’t new, the city of Detroit Lakes has discussed the possibility internally for a number of years, but with Swanson’s departure at the end of the year, they’re now looking at creating a committee to look at whether or not an additional paid position is feasible, “We’re considering the possibility of having a paid full-time Chief on staff, there are some advantages to that, but the disadvantages are it will increase the budget, so we’re looking at different options at this point,” said Detroit Lakes Mayor Matt Brenk.

“When it comes to money, everybody cringes, but in five years we’re probably going to be a two [paid] member 24-hour staffed department,” said Swanson.

It’s unclear at this point how much a paid position would add to the city’s budget, the salary of a Fire Chief in Minnesota can range anywhere from $80,000 to over $100,000. Alexandria, MN for instance budgeted just over $130,000 for full-time Fire Department staff in 2022, while Bemidji solicited for a new Chief in 2020 with a salary range between $94,800 and $120,000.