Meet Your New Fire Chief

Jordan Cousins appointed Elk Point’s new Fire Chief

Photo Credit: Gillian Cousins 

On January 30th, the Elk Point Fire Department held its Annual General Meeting, where members of the department voted in a new Fire Chief, Jordan Cousins and Deputy Fire Chief, Mike Ernst. Both positions were approved by the Town of Elk Point and the County of St. Paul this week, which means the men are officially on duty.

Fire Chief Cousins says he was pleasantly surprised when the nomination came from his fellow fire fighters, “at first I was shocked that I was the one that was getting nominated for the position of Fire Chief; but I’m very honored that my fellow firefighters feel that I can fill the position as Fire Chief of this department. I’m going to do everything I need to do to prove to these guys that they didn’t make a mistake of voting me in.”

Cousins graduates Lakeland College’s Fire Training Program

Fighting fires is personal to Cousins, as a teenager his family home burned down. Luckily, no members of his family were injured in the blaze, but it did affect him profoundly, “The first time I actually started thinking about being a volunteer fire fighter was after our house fire in 2001. Having your house start on fire and waiting for the fire department to get there’s seems like forever; but to see the fire department show up and get to work as quick as they did to try to save our house. Instantly it made we want to do that when I was of age.” As soon as Cousins finished high school he volunteered for the department and has been on the force for 11 years.

This is definitely a passion of mine and has been for a long time. Being in a brotherhood like we have here and being on scene with the guys I get to work with makes me want to continue being a volunteer fire fighter and possibly pursue it as career in the future. – Jordan Cousins Fire Chief, Elk Point Fire Department

Cousins, who turns 30 years old in September, says the department is made up of a relatively, young group of individuals, “we are a fairly young department now; but I know we are definitely heading in the right direction to make this department the best we can.” Don’t let the age foul you, Cousins is fully qualified to take on the position, having graduated from a fire training program, “I did attend 12 weeks of school for my Level 1 and 2 fire fighter certificates. There’s always more and more training to be done. As a fire fighter you’re always learning new techniques through watching other members, the veterans on our team or just taking refresher courses and training every Monday night at our practices.”

Cousins welcomes anyone who would like to volunteer for the department and says there’s always training available, “as far as training goes, you don’t need any training to join the volunteer department. You train as you go.” If you would like to learn more about the Elk Point Fire Department and how to become a volunteer, contact Jordan Cousins at 780-614-8457.