St. Cloud fire chief Matt Love emphasizes leadership skills, community growth in new role
ST. CLOUD — Matt Love has always loved firefighting.
When he was a teenager growing up near Colorado Springs, Colorado, he was drawn immediately to his county's volunteer firefighting team and started hanging out around the station. As a volunteer firefighter in high school he was allowed to park in the teacher's lot so he could leave class to respond to any fires that happened during the school day.
As Love got older he was working 12-hour night shifts driving the ladder truck for Colorado Springs' paid part-time fire department before getting up in the morning for his 40-hour work week in the county doing firefighting administrative work as division chief of training.
St. Cloud's new fire chief jokes that although he isn't sporting a stereotypical mustache like some of his predecessors, he hopes to bring a new perspective to the St. Cloud Fire Department and strengthen the community in the process.
History of firefighting, leadership
Love's first day in St. Cloud was Dec. 6, replacing Dean Wrobbel who retired in January 2021. As a young firefighter in Colorado, Love said he worked hard to get as much experience as he could, working on days he was supposed to be off, as well as at the city and county level, sometimes simultaneously.
He became fire chief in Cimarron Hills, Colorado, in 2009 and worked there for several years before looking for a new challenge elsewhere.
"It clicked one day. If you're going to be the best fire chief, you need to get out of the county you've always worked in," Love said.
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The Love family moved to Florida in 2016, "and what could be more different than the mountains of Colorado and the barrier islands of the Gulf of Mexico?" Love said with a laugh. "But that was kind of the exciting part of the challenge because my whole career I'd grown up managing big wildland fires and now I'm going to manage hurricanes, right? So different."
After working in Florida for six years as the Fort Myers Beach fire chief and travelling the country as a leadership speaker, Love and his family decided to move one last time back to the Midwest and landed in St. Cloud.
Love said it was the work ethic and reputation of St. Cloud firefighters that drew him here.
"The firefighters here are very driven to make this place the best fire department it can be. You would think it's like that everywhere, but not everybody has that drive," he said. "And some of it's just timing, right? We've got a newer group of battalion chiefs, we got a younger department that's very aggressive, and they want to go and are willing to do the work to get there. And so it's a good time to bring in a new, younger, maybe more energetic chief."
Using leadership to strengthen community
One of the key changes Love wants to bring to the St. Cloud Fire Department is leadership training.
"I love talking about leadership, I just love it. It's one of those subjects you'll never master," Love said. "It's one of those things you can read about or learn about and come to work and actually practice. When these fire officers get better, everybody gets better. One of the big visions moving forward for the organization is how do we incorporate little aspects of leadership in everything we do?"
In his first few months Love has already met with several rotary groups and service clubs around St. Cloud, as well as small business groups, local media outlets and the YMCA to talk about leadership and ways to strengthen the community.
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"If our goal is to increase quality of life for the community, whether that be through government, through fire, through police — people at the YMCA are doing the same thing, right?" Love said. "And so I think that leadership platform is like this commonality all these service professions have."
Love said a lot of people don't realize there are 70 full-time professional firefighters in St. Cloud running 9,000 calls a year.
Through new leadership training he said he hopes his firefighters will become better communicators and leaders, which will not only help them with their jobs but help them serve as positive role models for others.
In the past Love said he would give presentations in an elementary school where his wife worked as a fifth grade teacher. He'd have her put on firefighter gear to show her students, especially girls, that they, too, could become a firefighter.
"It's kind of redefining what a fire department is. It's not just 'hey, go to fires and come back.' It's like, we should be heavily involved in molding the community for the future," Love said. "And I think that's a little different look at things. But I think our firefighters love it. I mean, they didn't sign up just to fight fire, they signed up to take care of the community. And what if that looks like teaching them about leadership or playing with some kids doing something just so they see what a positive figure looks like?"
Some safety tips from Chief Love as the weather warms
As the weather starts to creep into the 50s, Love shared some tips about how to stay safe this spring.
The sooner you call 911, the better. Love said don't hesitate calling 911 if someone needs help, because sometimes timing is everything.
Daylight Savings Time means you should check your smoke alarms and change your batteries. Love said this should be done every six months. "Your smoke alarms are for people, to wake people up. And things happen in your home when you're asleep," he said. "Just for the cost of a smoke alarm and batteries, you can't get better protection."
As the ice melts, don't underestimate the power of water and currents.
Wear helmets and safety pads when biking, skateboarding, etc., and parents— set an example for your kids by wearing a helmet too, Love said. Lots of damage can be done in an accident.
Becca Most is a cities reporter with the St. Cloud Times. Reach her at 320-241-8213 or bmost@stcloudtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter at @becca_most.
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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Meet Matt Love, St. Cloud's new fire chief
