Photo by Mike Lamb Craig Opdahl will be retiring soon after 29 years of firefighting service that includes the Granite Falls Fire Department since 1996.

GRANITE FALLS — Former Granite Falls Fire Department Chief Craig Opdahl says it takes a special type of person to volunteer as a first responder in a small community.

“You almost have to be not really right in the head when people are running away from the fire and you’re running to it. It takes a little bit more mindset on it, especially the car accidents, drownings or even fires. You have a death, you’re gonna know that person. You’re gonna know somebody in that family’s. It’s a little different than the norm. So, so it takes kind of a different breed. But somebody has to do it,” he said.

“It doesn’t sound right, but basically when your adrenaline starts, your brain shuts off.”

If anybody knows the challenges first responders face, it would be Opdahl. He has 29 years in fire department service, first in Norwood Young America and in Granite Falls. He has served in Granite Falls since 1996 and was the fire chief for 10 of those years. He is still a member of the department, but plans on retiring in the near future.

While facing danger is always a possibility, Opdahl says “everybody in the department enjoys what they are doing.”

“They’re stepping up to help the community. So it’s not because of the money or anything like that, because there isn’t really that much there. We actually pay dues to be on the fire department,” he said.

When somebody volunteers to take the training and then serve on the department, not only does it take a commitment from that person, Opdahl says it takes a commitment from the family.

“There’s a lot of things that we do as family down here (fire hall), just because the wives, the kids get involved,” he said.

And Opdahl’s family knows all about that.

On July 25, 2000, his pager went off alerting the possibility of tornado and the need for weather spotters to drive in the area. Opdahl left his house and jumped into a fire truck with another fire department member, who happened to be his insurance agent.

“We went up the hill toward Clarkfield and we had to outrun the tornado. So then I came down Highway 5 and I seen the destruction and heard on the radio that an LP tank took a beating and that was about two and half blocks from my house. I didn’t even think of my house,” Opdahl said.

Then a call came in from another fireman.

“You need to get to your house,” the fireman said.

He found his house off its foundation and his garage nowhere to be seen.

“I didn’t even know that I was affected by the tornado until I got home,” Opdahl said.

His wife and children were in the basement when the tornado struck, but were unharmed.

“So it wasn’t a very, very warm welcome. I was actually told I wasn’t going to be doing (tornado spotting) that (anymore),” he said.

To this day, Opdahl says there’s a running joke about tornado spotting with your insurance agent with you can be a “double whammy.”

That tornado killed one person and injured over a dozen residents.

“We’ve had our bad moments and good moments. The biggest thing in my eyes, somebody has to do it,” Opdahl said.

He also recalled a few years back when two men were trapped in a milk truck.

“They couldn’t get out. They could not get air,” he said. “We had to go from the top. Inside it was molasses filled in there so it was slippery than anything. The only way to get in there was a hole like this,” he said spreading his hands apart. “Well, the only way we’re gonna send somebody in there they have to be completely packed so they have air or they would be in the same predicament.”

Opdahl said once the hole was cut, they were able to jump inside to reach the victims. Opdahl said one survived and the other victim died. That call did affect some of the responders.

“It was an emotional thing,” he said.

Opdahl says those type of calls have affected him mentally through the years. Especially the crashes he responded to while serving in Norwood Young America at the intersection of Highway U.S. Route 212 and Minnesota Highway 5.

“I’ve been involved in 16 deaths since I’ve been on the Granite Falls Fire Department. I can remember them all,” he said.

As fire chief he always urged his department members to reach out and talk with somebody. It’s a practice that continues today.

“When I was chief, I didn’t want anybody to go through what I’m going through right now because I mean, you just don’t have any emotion anymore. I mean, we’ve had some major car accident, fires with deaths, a drowning victim.

“Anytime we have a death or something very serious we actually the next day or that night, do a round table and just discuss it,” he said.

The state of Minnesota provides counseling programs as well. But he has found that most responders like to talk with somebody they know “That always worked real well with us. You know, so it’s a lot to do with watching your firemen.”

“Once you leave this building, you have to get it (the emergency) away, so it doesn’t affect your family life, work life or whatever. It will eat you alive,” he said.

Opdahl said the fire department is kind like an organization, but it’s a lot more.

Opdahl praies the support the department receives from the community, the city council and the number of people who step up to volunteer in the department.

“We’re very fortunate that we have a waiting list to get on the fire department. There’s a lot of smaller fire departments who are hurting right now,” he said. “The one thing in Granite Falls, there’s a lot of sons, fathers, cousins, brothers, uncles. It’s a family tradition with the fire department. It’s a pretty close knit group we have.”

“I’ll miss it.”