Fire Department
Lester Prairie Fire Department is ready to serve the people of Lester Prairie and surrounding communities .
Lester Prairie Fire Department
2024 Annual Report
In 2024 , the department responded to a total of 174 calls for service . 168 calls the prior year . The 5-year average is 170 per year . A total of 1,874 hours were expended on these calls .
We averaged just over 10 responders to each call . ( 10.15 ) The call breakdown is as follows :
( 12 ) Fire incidents . Total property and contents loss of $ 138,800 . ( 111 ) Medical and vehicle crashes ( 18 ) Hazardous condition ( gas leaks , chemical spills , CO alarms ) ( 8 ) Service calls ( lift assists , assist PD ) ( 15 ) Good Intent ( Canceled en-route , authorized controlled burn ) ( 10 ) False alarms Calls by district : City of Lester Prairie - 98 Bergen Township - 30 Winsted Township - 27 Mutual Aid / out of area / other - 19 Classroom and hands-on training accounted for another 943 firefighter hrs .
Highlights :
• We continue to operate with a full roster of firefighters .
• Purchased a retired Ford Explorer squad from the Winsted Police Department and implemented it as an officer response vehicle . This has improved response times by 2-3 minutes in many
cases . It allows emergency medical care and fire command activities to be initiated much more quickly .
• Relief Association purchased Life-Vac choking rescue devices to distribute to local daycare providers , churches , restaurants , etc . Training details are currently being developed .
• Hosted a training burn of an acquired structure in March . This allows us to work with our neighbors in real-life fire fighting situations .
• We continue the Auto-Aid agreement with Winsted . This has been working very well . Membership :
Currently at a full roster of 30 members . Two more currently on the waiting list .
Two retirements : Don Artmann - 22 + years , and Mike Schauer - 18 years .
Two new members : Mitch Bondhus and Laine Stephan joined the department this fall .
We currently have two firefighters going through initial training . Current Officers : Matt Tonn , Chief Dave Horsman , Assistant Chief Steve Dietel , Assistant Chief Scott Christenson , Captain Keith Christen , Captain Chris Bahr , Captain and Training Officer Tifanie Shimanski , Secretary Paul Christensen , Treasurer
10 Official guide to Lester Prairie 2025