MH fire chief passes the torch after 55-year career

Department names successor

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | February 2025

In mid-January Mendota Heights Fire Chief Dave Dreelan hung up his smoke-stained boots and helmet for the last time, marking the end of his long career of protecting the community. Since joining the department in 1990, he’s been a firefighter, trainer, captain and assistant chief, and for the past eight years led the department as fire chief. During his tenure he witnessed how new technologies drove the fire industry into a new era. Through it all, he lived a life centered on brotherhood, family and community, all of which fueled his passion for more than three decades.

Dreelan has lived in Mendota Heights since elementary school, save for his college years. Following graduation, he was an estimator for a construction company, and shortly after decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the fire department. They went on to serve together for nearly seven years.

“I was really active in a fraternity in college, and I could tell that the fire department in many aspects was similar to that,” he said. “There’s a common mission, they [firefighters] did a lot of things together socially, and their families knew each other. I think that’s what initially piqued my interest…. Within six or twelve months I was hooked.”

Dreelan’s spirit of service and selflessness motivated him all these years through the long hours and high-stress situations. Among the biggest challenges he faced as chief was the pandemic, which fell like a hammer when the Mendota Heights Fire Department was in the middle of a major renovation and expansion project. Not only was the workspace half-built when supply chains were halted, but the fire team was slimmed down and those who remained had to adapt to new safety protocols, including social distancing in fire trucks.

“That was a real tricky time, and not long after that there was the civil unrest in the Twin Cities,” he said. “There was a lot of planning and concern around that [unrest] expanding to Mendota Heights.”

He’s also led the department as it adapted to major advances in technology.

“Now our firetrucks are extremely technical and designed specifically for the fire service in every single capacity,” said Dreelan. “I remember when we got our first computer inside of a fire truck and thinking it was silly. ‘What would we ever want a computer for?’ And now they’re just as important as helmets…. The [fire department] buildings also aren’t just for storing the fire trucks like they were at one point. They’re built with regard to firefighter safety and health, with fitness facilities, decontamination, and all those kinds of things.”

All firefighters are required to complete at least 8-12 hours of various training a month, some of which can be done online. In recent years, the department added robust training focused on the mental health of its staff.

Since the Mendota Heights fire department only has on-call positions, its chief and firefighters often have other full-time jobs. Dreelan worked his estimator job for a few years before finding a new job that took him around the region selling fire equipment. In 2003, he landed a full-time job as a training officer at the Plymouth Fire Department, which, to the relief of his wife and two young daughters, kept him closer to home for the remainder of his career. At that department he rose through the ranks of captain and assistant chief, and retired as deputy chief in December this year, after 21 years of service.

“Between the two fire departments, I have 55 years of service,” said Dreelan. “Leading a department like Mendota Heights takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. I’m still very passionate about the fire department but I didn’t ever want to be in a position where I didn’t have the time or the energy anymore. Over the last year or so I was sensing that my wife and I want to do more things and experience more of what life has to offer… I still have it in me. I could still do it, no doubt, but I wanted to go out on a high note.”

A challenge the department has always faced is recruiting new firefighters who are willing to join the team despite often working a full-time job and juggling other personal responsibilities such as raising a family. Dreelan said fewer and fewer applicants have applied over his time there, and the trend is consistent across the Twin Cities. The department usually has around 35 firefighters who serve Mendota Heights’ population of approximately 11,500 and responds to about 350 calls annually. It was named as “Minnesota Fire Department of the Year” in 1995 and 2015.

Dreelan said he found his career very gratifying.

“It comes on two fronts,” he said. “One is going out and really making a difference in the community and helping someone when they need it most. The other is getting to work side by side with a great group of people that are all highly motivated and there for the right reasons. To be a part of a team like that and work with a group of people like that is very rewarding.”

In retirement, he’s looking to spend time on the water, fishing, hitting the links, and exploring other ways to be involved in the community.

New chief named
In mid-January, the City named Dan Johnson as its new fire chief. He’s been with the department for nine years, holding positions including firefighter, training officer, and squad captain, and has more than four years of experience with the Dakota County Special Operations Team. His first order of business has been reviewing the department’s short-term and long-term goals, and in the next few months he will finalize his vision for the next chapter of the department.

“Dan has demonstrated a tremendous amount of energy, commitment, and knowledge toward the fire service and the fire department and I’m very grateful that I’m going to be passing the torch to someone who has that passion and willingness to keep moving the fire department forward,” said Dreelan. “I’ve known him all my life and I’m really, really pleased and happy for him.”

Johnson takes pride in serving the community where he has lived since the age of three.

“To be here over 50 years later as the department approaches its 80th anniversary and become the chief is a tremendous honor,” he said. “It is also something that provides a deep sense of personal satisfaction for me in that it enables me to give back in this way to the community I have called home for nearly 60 years. I am very excited about the prospect of leading the department and doing everything I can to ensure that it continues to provide premier public safety services to the community and continues to be an integral part of the community that it has been for the past many decades.”

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