About Us

The City of Moorhead provides a wide array of services through the Fire Department including:

• Fire suppression, prevention, and investigation
  • All of our staff are internationally certified and professionally licensed firefighters. We respond to fires in a progressive fashion that is both fiscally responsible and allows us access to more resources than we can provide on our own. Two fire engines are on-duty at all times and respond effectively to smaller fires. In the case of residential fires, we call-back our off-duty personnel and typically request one or two additional engines from neighboring cities through mutual aid agreements. On even larger fires we utilize even more mutual aid from departments in Clay and Cass counties. When local resources are overwhelmed, emergency responders from across the state and the country can be deployed through statewide and interstate mutual aid agreements.
  • We believe the best way to provide for the safety of our residents is to prevent emergency incidents from occurring. We operate several programs that target identified risks in our community including inspecting all rental housing and properties annually and providing youth education in fire safety.
  • We have a legal mandate to investigate all fires that occur in Moorhead. Several of our personnel are trained investigators and we partner with law enforcement and the State Fire Marshal Division on more complex investigations.
• Code enforcement
• Pre-fire planning
• Emergency medical care
  • All of our staff are nationally registered and state licensed Emergency Medical Technicians and some are also Paramedics. When someone calls 911 for an ambulance, dispatchers ask a series of question so we can determine how severe the medical emergency is. On less serious calls, the ambulance responds alone. On more serious calls, we respond as well so trained help arrives early and more personnel are available to provide the services needed during critical emergencies.
• Technical rescue
  • We are trained to provide rope rescue, confined space rescue, high-level rescue, water and ice rescue, and rescue from car or machinery accidents.

• Hazardous materials

  • We have partnered with the State of Minnesota to provide hazardous materials response to a 13 county region of northwestern Minnesota.
• Hydrant maintenance, emergency management
• Other disaster, emergency, life and property conservation services

When not providing emergency services, firefighters perform other routine, administrative, and laborious tasks such as training and education, equipment/apparatus repair and maintenance, fire code inspections, pre-fire planning, and other special projects.

Current authorized staffing

• 24 Firefighters
• 6 Captains
• 3 Battalion Chiefs
• 1 Assistant Fire Marshal
• 1 Fire Marshal/Emergency Manager
• 1 Deputy Fire Chief
• 1 Fire Chief
• 1 Program Assistant

Fire staff members are all full-time employees and can be called back to work during structure fires and larger emergencies.

Curious about how we got here?  Check out our history page or view our previous annual reports.

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