MN Fire Chief Association’s Conference Addresses Mental Illness

DULUTH, Minn. – Firefighters put their lives on the line every day to save the lives of others.

It’s very common for that to have a huge impact on the mental health many firefighters.

During this week’s Minnesota Fire Chief Association’s conference one organization is bringing awareness to the topic.

In Minnesota, nearly five firefighters take their lives every year after dealing with a mental illness.

More than 500 firefighters attended the conference to address a variety of issues.

One top on the list is mental illness.

The stress of the job of being a firefighter can accumulate over time.

Mental health is an issue fire departments across Minnesota have begun to research as many aren’t aware of how much it can really impact fire fighters

It is common for many firefighters to suffer from illnesses like PTSD

The organization called the Minnesota Fire Initiative is ensuring to bring awareness to the issue as it is a topic that no one likes to talk about.

“Suicide in general has big stigma around it and then when you combine it with the culture of the fire service, which is we’re strong, we band together when something like this happens it kind of gets swept under the rug,” said President George Esbensen.

The Duluth Fire Chief says although its not something commonly talked about it takes the support of the departments to really help others dealing with emotional illnesses.

“As a chief its really wanting to take care of our members, make sure our members have the resources they need to have a healthy life be a productive employee, be a productive person in our community be a great husband, dad, wife,” Chief Shawn Krizaj

Other than emotional wellness, the Minnesota Fire Initiative provides assistance with cardiac and cancer issues that may impact firefighters.

They also offer training to identify the signs and provides resource to those suffering from a mental illness.

The initiative has also drafted the hometown assistance program to bring more awareness to the this topic.