Crookston Fire Chief Tim Froeber has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year after 26 years of service. At the last City Council meeting on Monday, November 28, City Administrator “Corky” Reynolds announced that firefighter Shane Heldstab has been chosen to succeed Froeber, effective January 1, 2023, and officially signed the papers for the job that morning.
Heldstab has been a firefighter with the Crookston Fire Department for 11 years and has always worked to be an asset to the department, with him working closely and completing several pieces of training with Chief Froeber on multiple occasions. “I’d always wanted to be a bigger asset for the department. Even a few years ago, I went out and got my Emergency Management (EM) certification. I really was thinking at that point in time, it’d be unfair if Chief Froeber had to try and do all of this stuff all on his own, so why not try and at least be another valued asset that he could utilize,” Shane Heldstab explained. “With that, he was able to incorporate me on a couple of those things, getting a taste of that leadership and going through a bunch of different trainings and trying to get a different vision on exactly what is entailed with leading the actual fire department and having to assume the role also in Emergency Management for the city.” Heldstab mentioned that the high-water event in the spring had stuck out to him as a type of event he wanted to be responsible for leading the Emergency Management through and felt that this was an excellent opportunity for him to help lead the department forward.
Heldstab said he was honored to be chosen by Froeber and the city to represent the city as the department’s next Fire Chief and is excited to begin working in the new position. “I’m honored to be able to have been selected for this position. The realization slowly hits every day just a little bit more on what I am going to undertake and the processes going forward,” Shane Heldstab explained. “I am truly honored and proud as a citizen here to be able to represent this community of Crookston as their Fire Chief and their Emergency Manager. That’s the biggest thing, it can be overwhelming at times, but I’m really excited for that challenge.”
With the decision now official for Heldstab and the department, Heldstab has begun working closely with Chief Froeber on preparing for becoming the Chief of the Fire Department. Chief Froeber had told us some of the things he is training Heldstab on include department budgeting and managing personnel, but Heldstab is preparing for much more with what his Chief has to teach him. “We’ve interacted, but we haven’t touched base to develop a game plan. All I know is he said he’s got a lot of paperwork, and I better make sure I have an empty notebook to make sure I can take down a lot of notes on things that he is going to want to explain a little bit more in-depth with the way the job has changed,” Shane Heldstab explained. “He’s been here for the last ten years, and the way the operations and stuff have changed. This is more administrative than it is personnel-wise, but there’s a lot of things that this city has really redeveloped or adapted that he’s had to learn on the fly that he’ll be able to bring me in and explain the processes.” Froeber also assured Heldstab that even though his last official day with the department is on December 31, he plans to stay with the department until Heldstab feels comfortable enough to let him step away. Even after he leaves the department, Froeber has assured Heldstab and the department that he is just a phone call away in case they ever need help. City Administrator “Corky” Reynolds and other City Hall staff have also promised him that they would help them in any way they can.
With Froeber’s retirement and Heldstab’s promotion, the Fire Department is currently searching for a new firefighter to assist in the Crookston Fire Department and has already placed a public advertisement out for the city, which will be open until Monday, December 12. Froeber also assured the department that he would not leave the department shorthanded and would make sure the transition happens smoothly and to leave it fully staffed before he departs.
Tim Froeber will continue to work with Heldstab for the remainder of this month before his official final day on Saturday, December 31, and Shane Heldstab will officially begin work as the Fire Department’s Chief on Sunday, January 1, 2023.
