Shannon Ryder
Guest Writer
The Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association awards two Fire Officer of the Year awards to very deserving members of the fire service.
One award is presented to an officer from a city whose population is under 10,000 and the other award is presented to an officer whose cities population is over 10,000. These officers are nominated by peers and each winner receives an award and grant of $1,000 to be used by them or their department for a MSFCA approved Chiefs education program.
Chief Randy Polzin joined the Isanti Fire Department in 1972 and has been fire chief for 20 years. In the last few years, Polzin has been planning for his upcoming retirement by reorganizing the Isanti Fire Department and has dedicated immense efforts into accomplishing his goals for the department to leave it in the best possible shape for his successor.
One of the more recent changes that Polzin has advocated for is the position of a full-time career firefighter. The full-time firefighter manages administrative duties previously performed by the chief and other officers and responds to a large number of calls alone.
After establishing the new full-time firefighter position, Polzin set out to organize a duty crew system so that first responders would be available to the community around the clock. He implemented a schedule to distribute on-duty hours and workloads among the firefighters, guaranteeing that someone will always respond to a call. As a part of this new system, duty crew cars were acquired, which on-duty firefighters can use to respond to calls instead of rushing to the station to take a truck. Duty crew cars also eliminate personal vehicles from the road and decrease overall response times.
As a result of hiring a full-time firefighter and establishing a duty crew system, the Isanti Fire Department’s response times have decreased from an average of 9 minutes to 7 minutes throughout the 168 square-mile coverage area and from 6 minutes to 3 minutes within the city of Isanti. This decrease in response times has occurred even though the call volume has increased by 30 percent since the changes were implemented. The Isanti Fire Department is on track to record over 840 calls this year, a 20 percent increase from last year, but continues to maintain a 7-minute response time and they respond to every single call they receive. Consequently, the Isanti Fire Department’s ISO ratings have also gone down to a 4 in the city and its two substations, and down to a 7 in the Isanti Fire Department’s 5-mile radius.
In addition to his work with the fire department, Polzin also manages his own company, which employs six firefighters from the Isanti Fire Department, including himself. Not only does Polzin always allow his employees to respond to fire calls while on the clock, he even pays them overtime to ensure his customers receive their deliveries despite delays caused by answering emergency calls. He and his business partners have also devoted countless resources toward the Minnesota Fallen Firefighters Memorials. Since its construction, they have contributed an estimate of $35,000 in labor, machine use, supplies, and programming for the memorial. Polzin has personally removed columns from the memorial to add or change firefighter names in his fabrication shop, and then reinstalled them prior to the memorial ceremony each year, and he has never requested any compensation or recognition for his time and efforts.
The above mentioned are only more recent examples of Polzin’s contributions to the Isanti Fire Department.
In 1976, Polzin and a group of firefighters decided to organize a rodeo fundraiser to buy new equipment for the Isanti Fire Department. Thirty-nine years later, the Isanti Firefighters Rodeo Association has raised $1.3 million, all of which has gone to buying gear and equipment, new trucks, and buildings. None of the money has ever gone to the Isanti Firefighters Relief Association.
One of Polzin’s priorities has always been keeping firefighters safe. He has always believed that providing firefighters with the best possible education, training, and equipment is the best way to prevent avoidable injuries, prevent fire losses, save more lives, and minimize worker compensations. Over the past 85,000 hours spent responding to emergency calls, there has only been one minor injury that involved someone falling during an ice storm.
Polzin has been a member of the MSFCA since 1976 and has served on its Board of Directors since 1989, and while he served on the board, he worked tirelessly to establish a statewide firefighter certification program. The Isanti Fire Department was among the first fire departments in Minnesota to require state certification to serve as a firefighter in the department. As state and national mandates were issued to fire departments, Polzin continued to increase the standards for his firefighters, even requiring all active firefighters to maintain a valid state firefighter license.
The Isanti Fire District would never have been established as successfully as it is now if it hadn’t been for the dedicated efforts of Polzin. Even though he is soon to retire, it can be safely said that it wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if Polzin will forever continue to be involved with the fire department and the community.