The Goodhue Area Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department held their annual open house and fundraiser on Sunday, October 13th. The department depends on donations to maintain, purchase and update equipment. The crew completed over 1000 training hours in 2023 in order to provide the best possible medical and firefighting service. In 2023 members responded to 153 medical and 60 fire calls within their 275 square mile service area.
A free-will offering was accepted for the chili lunch. Many of the 29 active members were on hand to serve food and answer questions. They also offered rides in a firetruck and a chill in the air didn’t deter kids from aiming the water hose at window flaps in a training board.
Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Captain, Chad Steffen gave tours of the command and communications mobile unit parked outside the fire hall. Steffen was part of a team that designed the rig created from a 2023 Freightliner MT-55. Total cost of the unit was $802,066.66 which was funded through national and state grants and programs with only $8,045.00 coming from county taxes.
The RV-type vehicle serves as a backup 911 call center and is capable of anything that can be done from the county office. The command center has every needed communication device including Starlink satellite based internet. Multiple screens pick up feeds from a mast camera that has a range of about one mile and also from cameras showing what’s happening all around the perimeter of the unit. The interior can be divided into separate, sound-proof areas to help officers concentrate on what they need to do.
Officers have been training to use the mobile unit for both planned events and unplanned emergencies. Officers can be on site at a large event such as an outdoor concert, or quickly set up at a natural disaster or crime scene. It was officially placed in service on August 1st and was in use during the Goodhue County Fair.
The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office also handles the city’s basic policing needs. Due to the high cost of maintaining their own department, Goodhue, like most other local towns, now contracts with the county. Officer Steffen estimates that the county has hired one extra officer to cover the city’s needs. He says it makes sense to work cooperatively with the smaller towns by sharing the larger assets of the county department.
Questions regarding the mobile command and communications center or other Goodhue County Sheriff’s Department activities may be sent to chad.steffen@goodhuecountymn.gov. Donations to the Goodhue Fire and Rescue Department may be sent to PO Box 66, Goodhue, MN 55027-0066.
