New Chief Says Brooklyn Park’s Diversity Drew Him to Job
Brooklyn Park’s New Fire Chief Shawn Conway is moving forward with his goals for the department’s future after the city council approved him for the permanent role on Monday.
Conway is a U.S. Air Force Veteran who served as chief at multiple bases.
He previously served as Brooklyn Park’s deputy fire chief under former Chief John Cunningham.
When Cunningham left the department to join the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as assistant commissioner, Conway served as interim fire chief.
Conway has also served as a firefighter with the St. Paul and Maplewood fire departments.
CCX News reporter Kevin Miller interviewed Conway during his first week on the job to hear about his personal story and future goals.
Their discussion is transcribed below.
Kevin Miller: What specifically about Brooklyn Park made you want to be chief here?
Shawn Conway: I have been blessed with the ability to work not just around the country but around the world, and working in culturally rich environments. I can honestly say that I’m home. I just love the diversity and the way that the community supports one another.
KM: Was there a specific point in your career when you realized you wanted to join the fire service full-time?
SC: At a young age my sister was in an accident. She was struck by a motorcycle. [The] experience, what my sister went through, has allowed me to just be way more compassionate and understanding for peoples’ needs in emergency situations. But 28 years later, it’s one of those things that, maybe that was the catalyst to help me get into it.
Conway Plans Big Projects for Brooklyn Park Fire
KM: Do you have any big projects that you’re hoping to take on in the next year or five years?
SC: We want to be known as a family-first organization. And what I mean by that is — a lot of people move around, especially for police and fire right now. The well is not deep. There’s not an abundance of firefighters out there. So we want people to know that they’re appreciated here. And part of that, is what are we going to do to support them as a person? We need to be well-trained, well-equipped, and that includes our firefighter’s families. So the health and wellness side of this is very, very important to me. As far as the equipment, we’re constantly reevaluating what equipment is available to our team to effect both property conservation and life safety initiatives.
Probably our most significant project we’re looking to address right now is our infrastructure and our fire stations. A lot of our fire stations were built in the early 90s. In that time, it was just a different model. We’re a full-time fire department with 49 sworn firefighters. And the current design of the fire stations are not conducive to supporting 24-hour staffing. We operate out of four fire stations, running approximately 9,200 calls a year, with 14 [firefighters] per shift. And we’re going to start with our Central Fire Station, right here in the northeast corner of Zane and 85th. If it’s approved, that will be our central fire station, and that will house our battalion chief and ladder company.
I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve served in a number of capacities both medical and fire. From rural EMS, urban EMS, as a flight paramedic, critical care. I’ve just been blessed. I’ve been able to do everything that I’ve wanted to do in a career, whether it be as a firefighter, or as a paramedic. I couldn’t be more honored to be serving in this capacity as fire chief.
