Joplin fire chief one of three finalists for Rochester, Minn. post

Joplin Fire Chief Gary Trulson is one of three finalists for the fire chief position in Rochester, Minn., according to an article in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. The article offered the following information on Trulson.

Recent weeks have found Joplin, Mo., dealing with a very Minnesota-like problem: damage from an ice storm. Gary Trulson has been at the center of the recovery efforts.

Trulson, 50, grew up on a farm in Edgerton, Wis., near Janesville, and is no stranger to ice and snow.

His first job as a paid firefighter was in Janesville, in 1979. His career, then, took him from northern Wisconsin (Oshkosh) to one of the southernmost cities in the United States -- Yuma, Ariz. He was an assistant chief there.

He went to Joplin in 2004 to become that city's first fire chief hired from the outside, so Trulson knows a thing or two about the situation he might face in Rochester if he is hired.

His leadership style, he said, is to encourage subordinates' participation. In Joplin, he involved employees from every level of the department on a 10-member committee crafting a strategic plan. The plan took a year to write, and it is revisited periodically to keep it fresh.

Some of Trulson's experiences seem to relate well to the unique aspects of Rochester.

In Janesville, he worked in a city that has a monolithic employer -- the GM assembly plant. In Oshkosh, he was involved as the fire department helped a hospital move from one location to another.

In Yuma, he oversaw installation of mobile data systems in fire vehicles, and built a station.

"It was beneficial to go to different communities," he said.

Trulson's sense of the Rochester Fire Department is that it is well-run and doesn't need a "change agent."

"If the need is there, I can do it (bring change), but I would never come into a place just changing it for the sake of changing it," he said.

"The picture that was painted was that it just needs someone to carry on," Trulson said. "Obviously, there's always potential for improvements."

"I feel real good about that it would be the right thing for me at this point of my career," he said.