Fire Department Picks New Battalion Chief, Swearing In Ceremony Friday

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Fire Department has a new battalion chief. Brett Young has been promoted to battalion chief from his captain post. Young has been with the department for 14 years. St. Cloud Fire Chief Matt Love says Battalion Chief Young is already working at his new position and will be officially sworn in on Friday.

“And so we’d like to symbolize the support the department’s going to give them their families involved in pinning that badge because it’s a big deal and it’s a huge service to the community these battalion chiefs are giving up a lot of their days on and days off to take care of this community.”

The department will also be swearing in two recruits and a new captain. Chief Love says battalion chiefs like Young command firefighters and are responsible for getting a fire out.

“They are experts at commanding scenes. That’s really what they’re all about and so, when they show up to command a scene they are not only trained and certified but well practiced at it. So even if I were to show up on a scene, those battalion chiefs would still be in command of that scene. That’s what they do and they’re very good at it.”

He says you’ll need about ten years of experience to become a battalion chief, including two years as a captain. Battalion chiefs are tested on 24 skills and must pass before being considered for the job. Candidates must be selected by the fire chief and approved by the mayor.

Chief Love says the SCFD has three battalion chiefs to oversee its five fire stations, and it’s essential they work together.

“Sometimes you say five stations, five fire departments, they do it different ways. Not at all. Nor do you want three shifts three different ways. We want it consistent and so those battalion chiefs work hard to keep how we operate every day the same despite Who’s on duty.”

Young is taking over Jerry Raymond’s position after the 22-year veteran retired last week. Chief Love says Raymond will be missed and was a great asset to the department.

“He is well known and credible in our community. He was actually teaching an incident command class one of his last days on the job. And he just taught with such experience and common sense teaching our new recruits and some of our officers how to command incident scenes and make those incidents come out to a safe conclusion.”

The St. Cloud Fire Department has 70 firefighters stationed at five locations around the city. St. Cloud’s five fire stations are strategically placed around the city. Station one is downtown at 101 10 Avenue North, station two is on St. Cloud’s northwest side at 727 Anderson Avenue, station three is in southeast St. Cloud at 1201 University Drive Southeast, station four is at the St. Cloud Regional Airport, and station five is in southern St. Cloud at 3850 Clearwater Road.

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