Waite Park to Interview Five for City’s First Full-Time Fire Chief

(KNSI) – The City of Waite Park is poised to make a piece of local history next week.

Five candidates are scheduled to interview on Monday, June 1st, for what would be the city’s first full-time fire chief. The interviews are expected to take up the entire day. The names of the five candidates have not yet been released. City Administrator Shaunna Johnson says the city plans to release them by the end of the day on Friday, May 29th.

For decades, Waite Park has been protected by a part-time, paid-on-call fire department. Johnson says the move to a full-time chief is not the result of a retirement. Rather, the city decided the job’s responsibilities have grown beyond what a part-time chief can handle. Current part-time Chief Jim Aleshire is not retiring.

Mayor Ken Schmitt says bringing on a full-time leader will help the city better support its department, particularly when it comes to recruitment. The department currently has 18 part-time firefighters, and Schmitt says the city would ideally like to grow that roster to 30. He says a full-time chief would lead education and recruitment efforts to help reach that goal.

Recruitment and retention have become tougher in recent years as training requirements and time commitments have increased. To make sure the community stays protected, Waite Park has an automatic aid agreement with the City of St. Cloud to respond to all fire and medical calls, in addition to existing mutual aid partnerships across the region. The department responded to 250 calls for service in 2025.

The full-time position carries a starting salary range of between $106,474 and $142,939, depending on qualifications. The department operates out of a single station on 13th Avenue North, which is currently being renovated and expanded.

A decision on who lands the job could follow soon after Monday’s interviews wrap up.

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