Beleaguered Fire Chief Cuts Bait and Leaves

THE YEAR-LONG ODYSSEY OF AUSTIN, MINNESOTA’s belligerent and embarassing Fire Chief, Dan Wilson is finally coming to a close. The 26-yr. employee of the small department became a national attraction first when he declared publicly that “The worst thing that ever happened to the fire service was putting beds in the fire stations.” and then rearranged the work schedule into two shifts, daytime and evenings, leaving the firehouse shut down at nighttime when the citizens are most vulnerable to fires. Austin is also the home to Hormel Products’ headquarters and main packing plant that does not have a fire brigade, instead relying on the city for fire protection. See the Firegeezer report from Austin from December 27 of last year HERE.

austin-fire-station

Austin Fire Department

Inside the fire department he had a disagreeable reputation for being belligerent and vindictive towards the firefighters and practicing the “management by fear” policy. This personality trait came out at a public hearing this past February when a woman, a private citizen, spoke out against a policy of the fire department and Chief Wilson flew into a tirade and assaulted the woman. (Firegeezer story HERE.)

Since that time, there have been several complaints filed by firefighters about the chief utilizing on-duty help to perform personal work on his properties and lately an investigation was begun by city council into several formal complaints about unfavorable working conditions at the city’s only fire station.

Tuesday night he announced that he will be retiring from his job effective December 31, ending a tumultuous and controversial period of uncomfortable working relationship with his department. He has been chief for about 15 years. At the time of his announcement, the city council was holding a closed-door meeting to consider the complaints and debate his future.

The Austin Daily Herald has this latest STORY.
KAAL-TV has more and a video report HERE.

The Austin Daily Herald also has THIS STORY on the current internal investigation against Wilson.