Joel Hewitt

Joel Hewitt, former Fire Chief for the City of Moorhead, Minnesota, dedicated 35 years of his life to public service. In 1976, Mr. Hewitt joined the fire department in his hometown of Roseville, Minnesota, as a Paid per Call Firefighter. Joel Hewitt held every position in the Department, including a seven-year tenure as Fire Chief, and finally concluded his service with Roseville’s fire department in 2004. In 1996, Joel Hewitt became Fire Chief for the city of Maplewood, Minnesota, concurrently continuing to serve the Roseville Fire Department. While managing a staff of 136 paid per call employees, Mr. Hewitt orchestrated the consolidation of 3 private departments into one public entity, creating the state’s second largest fire department. He assumed the position of Fire Chief/Emergency Manager for St. Anthony, a suburb of Minneapolis, in 2000. As Fire Chief for St. Anthony, Joel Hewitt applied for and won Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants to fund new firefighting tools and safety equipment, and forged a new labor management group. In July 2004, the City Council of Moorhead, Minnesota, swore in Joel Hewitt as its Fire Chief. From that time until January 2011, Mr. Hewitt led a staff of 39 firefighting personnel in continuing efforts to provide for the safety of Moorhead, seat of Clay County and the largest city in northwest Minnesota. Joel Hewitt developed Moorhead Fire Department’s first strategic plan, managed flood mitigation efforts on 3 separate occasions, wrote grants resulting in awards of $389,000 in equipment and staffing funding, and created a 125-member public safety networking group. Mr. Hewitt oversaw a hazardous materials technician team, and led the department’s efforts in suppressing fires, administering emergency medical services, and executing vehicle and river rescue operations.