St. Cloud Fire Department Holds Graduation and Promotion Ceremony

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Fire Department welcomed six new members at a graduation and promotion ceremony downtown on Wednesday morning.

Chief Matt Love spoke with KNSI News afterward on how special of a day it was for both the cadets and current firefighters being elevated to new positions. He talked about how much work it takes to move up the ranks. He says both the fire apparatus operator and captain positions require a decade or more to obtain. The department tries to ease people into their new roles.

Love says, “As we talked about in the ceremony, when you promote to captain it is such a different role than you’ve ever had. It is important for everybody to understand all the leadership surrounds them and kind of helps them from making mistakes because the community depends on their leadership every day.”

Love says fire captains act as mini fire chiefs. John Cheesebrow was elevated to the rank at the ceremony. During pinning, current and retired leadership officials surrounded Cheesebrow and laid hands on him as his wife affixed his badge to his uniform.

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Retired and current leadership join John Cheesebrow as he is promoted to fire captain/ Grant Dossetto (KNSI News)

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Fire apparatus operators drive the trucks and are responsible for calculating how to ensure the correct water pressure is provided to crews depending on how far the hoses have to run and how high the structure is. Not only is safety important as firefighters and equipment are transported to a scene, but the role requires a lot of math once out in the field. Adam Bondhus is the newest fire apparatus operator.

To be accepted into the academy and make it to graduation, Love says you need to have obtained specific certifications. Each member of the June 2023 class worked towards that while at a paid-on-call or volunteer department in the area.

Love says the six-week academy helps to instill the “St. Cloud way” in new members. “All these gentlemen have been firefighters before in other places. So, we’re just refining their skills and saying, ‘Here’s how we do it here,’ to make things perfectly synchronized. So, just kind of indoctrinating them into our philosophies, what we believe leadership is, and how on the fireground we get the job done in a real coordinated fashion.”

Love says the department prides itself on empathy for the community and stresses compassion when dealing with people who are in the midst of an emergency. The last graduation ceremony occurred in December. The next one should be in October. Classes open up as needed.

The June graduating class is listed below.

-Tanner Aleshire
-Nolan Anderson
-Justin Bowland
-Jason Combs
-Justin Hunt
-Jon Swenson