Clay Wilfahrt, Big Lake City Administrator, continued his ongoing series of interviews with city officials, covering their job within the city and the challenges they face. This week, he interviewed Big Lake Fire Chief Seth Hansen. 

Hansen said that, as chief, he operated as “the CEO” of the BLFD. He oversees the budget and all other aspects of the department.

On top of a regular full-time job, Hansen works for the BLFD for about 30-35 hours per week. A lot of the firefighters have full time jobs. This is because the department is a “pay on call” department: firefighters only get paid for the calls to which they respond. Still, it takes a lot of their time. They need to be available to answer calls at all times, and they have to put a lot of hours into continuing training. This system is pretty common in Minnesota. About 95% of fire departments are volunteer only or pay by call. It would be a strain on the city budget to change over to having only full time positions, but Chief Hansen said he would like to see the city try to transition maybe one or two positions to full time and go from there. 

The department covers a lot of territory; about 50 square miles in Big Lake and Orrock. In 2020, they responded to 377 calls, averaging a little more than one call per day. Most of the calls are not necessarily big house fires. The department will also respond to medical calls, car rescues, and false calls.

They will also help out surrounding communities when they have a large emergency, and vice versa. For example, the BLFD was present at the Northern Metals fire in Becker last year. When a call comes in, the 911 dispatcher immediately contacts all the surrounding emergency responders in order to make sure someone is able to respond in time. 

When Mayor Paul Knier commented on the live video asking how citizens could support the fire department, Hansen said that it was important for residents to continue to donate to BLFD fundraising campaigns organized by the Big Lake Lions and the Big Lake Fire Auxiliary, among other groups. He also said the department would accept donations of water bottles and hand warmers to give to victims during an emergency, as they tend to go through them quickly. 

Wilfahrt and Hansen answered many more questions during the video, as well as showed off some of the equipment the BLFD uses during fires. The entire video is available on the City of Big Lake Facebook page. Later this month, Wilfahrt will be recording a virtual tour of the city’s wastewater treatment facility.