Wayne Kewitsch

About Wayne Kewitsch

Wayne Kewitsch realizes he’s one of the luckiest guys in the world…he gets paid to do what he loves. He began his fire service career as Paid-On-Call Firefighter in 1995 with the St. Louis Park FD; has served as a Firefighter, Lieutenant, Assistant Chief and Fire Chief for the Richfield Fire Department. He served as the first Executive Director of the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative (MnFIRE) a non-profit that focuses on firefighter health. Wayne is passionate about firefighter health and wellness along with how resources can be best utilized to provide excellent service to the public. During his time with MnFIRE, Wayne helped launch the implementation of the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program, a statewide program focusing on providing firefighters across Minnesota with the resources to address their unique health needs. Wayne is currently serving as the Emergency Operations Director for the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games. He is a member of multiple fire service organizations and has held leadership positions with the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association, the Minnesota-1 All Hazards Incident Management Team and is a former board member for MN Task Force 1. Wayne has a B.A. from Northwestern University and has successfully completed the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy.Specialties: Strategic organizational planning, operational planning with extensive operational experience ranging from line firefighter to chief level.

Experience

1. Emergency Operations Director

   2026 Special Olympics Usa Games

   Nov 2024 — Present · Minneapolis, MN, US

Education

• National Fire Academy

  EFO, Executive Fire Officer

  2009 — 2012

• Northwestern University

  B.A., Neurobiology & Physiology

  1983 — 1987

Skills

• Fire Management
• Fire Suppression Systems
• Technical Rescue
• Trench Rescue
• Rescue
• Life Safety
• Emergency Management
• Fire Safety
• First Responder
• Wildland Firefighting
• Structural Firefighting
• Code Enforcement
• Exercises
• Emergency Services
• Public Safety
• Incident Command
• Hazardous Materials
• Disaster Response
• Homeland Security
• Ambulance
• Urban Search & Rescue
• Fire Prevention
• Incident Management
• Preparedness
• Emergency
• Firefighters
• Fire Protection
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Fire Investigation
• Ems
• Firefighting
• Nfpa
• Nims
• Rope Rescue
• Emergency Planning
• Fire Service
• Fire Inspections
• Confined Space Rescue