Values VIP: Six Departments Provide SERVICE in Burnsville Response
In late February, Minnesota was shaken by an unexpected tragedy in Burnsville where Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and Firefighter/Paramedic Adam Finseth were killed in the line of duty.
As people around the country mourned the loss, local governments in the metro area offered their support to the grieving community in any way possible. In an exemplary act of service, Edina employees from six different departments selflessly committed their time to join the incident response efforts when the City of Burnsville depended on it most.
For coming together to help a heartbroken community in one of its darkest moments, more than 70 employees from the City of Edina were named Values VIPs.
With a multitude of cities involved in providing support, a strategic combination of planning, execution and cooperation was required in order to achieve the goals set forth by the response teams. On Feb. 18, in a stunned period of crisis, Burnsville launched its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Joint Information Center (JIC), marking one of the first steps made in addressing the situation.
With people around both the state and country looking for updates and ways to help came the need for an enhanced space to communicate. Members of Edina’s Communications team worked in the Burnsville JIC for over two weeks. It was described as “the most significant on-the-job training I’ve ever had” by Communications Director Jennifer Bennerotte. The team specialized in authoring scripts for Burnsville leadership, answering media inquiries, creating news updates, maintaining the city webpage and keeping a social media presence as an additional source of information.
“I’m proud to have helped our colleagues,” said Bennerotte, who was at Burnsville City Hall the day of the incident. “We were working alongside people who lost friends and coworkers. … you can read any book on crisis communications and complete dozens of tabletop exercises, but nothing can truly prepare you for the real thing and the enormity of it all.”
Due to the magnitude of the situation, Burnsville’s Police and Fire departments were unable to continue their typical work as they took time to mourn their fallen colleagues. Edina Fire was one of several departments that volunteered first responders and equipment until Burnsville staff was prepared to resume work.
Medic 3, an ambulance with two Firefighter/Paramedics, was in service 24 hours a day at Burnsville Station 2 from the morning of Feb. 20 to the morning of March 1. Thirty-six members of Edina Fire worked at least one 12-hour overtime shift to staff Medic 3 during this time without reducing staffing levels in Edina. Edina Fire staff responded to 73 911 ambulance calls in the city of Burnsville.
“It felt automatic that we were going to help them,” said Operations Chief Pete Fisher. “We had people who don’t usually work overtime step in to cover.”
When asked about the interconnectedness of the public safety community in the area, Fisher said “no department is big enough to do it all” and that Edina Fire provides additional support to surrounding cities on a regular basis, even in routine emergency situations, through mutual aid agreements.
Following the initial shock and immediate push to support Burnsville public safety staff, planning for a memorial service for the fallen public safety officials began. When a line-of-duty deaths occurs, a planning committee is formed to help outline a comprehensive strategy ranging from event security to memorial service logistics. Police Lt. Ryan Schultz was assigned to the planning committee to assist Washington County with event security.
“It was a humbling experience to be part of planning a service to honor the three heroes who tragically lost their lives. It was amazing to see how quickly people volunteered to provide support to our brothers and sisters in Burnsville,” said Schultz. “To have over 10,000 people show up the memorial service is a testament to how public safety is a family and everyone steps up to support each other.”
Edina SWAT team members assisted with event security the day of the memorial service, and Edina Police Cadets helped with traffic control during the funeral procession.
The Feb. 28 funeral procession was 19.7 miles long on a route that stretched from Grace Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie to Burnsville. On the morning of the memorial, members of Edina Public Works departed with a convoy of trucks to support public safety teams in a road closure that lasted an hour and 25 minutes.
“The procession went flawlessly,” said Public Works Director Brian Olson, as nearly his entire Streets Division was on the scene assisting with traffic control. “Our guys like providing public service, and that’s why a lot of our people get into this line of work.”
“I was so humbled and deeply grateful for all the support we received from the City of Edina,” said Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz. “With a truly humble heart I wrote to Mayor Hovland and City Manager Scott Neal to thank them for the care, support, kindness and compassion you showed the City of Burnsville during the horrific incident. I am truly grateful.”
When a Minnesota community is hit with such a surprising and devastating event, it’s felt by everyone. However, through a crisis situation, the communal desire to help those in need can bring out the best in surrounding cities and staff. While the lives of those effected in Burnsville are forever changed, our employees should be proud they represented Edina in a manner that greatly exceeded expectations.