BEMIDJI — On Friday, the Bemidji Fire Department heard confirmation that it would soon receive congressional funds to upgrade its main living space, a need that Fire Chief Justin Sherwood has expressed numerous times.
“The locker room is very much original, or very close to the original 1970 design, which was built specifically for males,” Sherwood explained, “but Bemidji fire has now employed both males and females. So, we’re going to use that to provide individual sleeping areas so they can actually have some privacy.
“(We will) also build up a bathroom and locker room facility that separates the genders, because right now, it’s one open space. So, no matter who’s using it, you have to verbalize to everybody else that you’re going to shower or that you’re going to use the bathroom. That gets challenging at times — it’s not good for anybody.”
Annalise Braught / Bemidji Pioneer
The congressional direct spending grant will award the department $450,000 to update the dorm area, bathroom and locker space. Sherwood expects that the department will receive these funds soon.
The grant was supported by Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and was officially signed and approved by President Donald Trump. Klobuchar specifically supported the grant when
she visited Bemidji in July to witness storm damage.
The Bemidji Fire Department has secured over $500,000 in alternative funding in 2025 to support itself. Sherwood believes recent outreach efforts have helped in this venture.
For example, he joined the
Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association
and was then invited to a Congressional Fire Service Institute symposium in Washington, D.C., a year ago. There, Sherwood introduced himself to different Minnesota Senators and expressed concerns for the living space at the Bemidji Fire Station.
Annalise Braught / Bemidji Pioneer
He learned about the congressional grant and was encouraged to apply. The department was not awarded the funds in 2024, but fortunes changed in 2025, and the grant was awarded to Bemidji.
This outreach is one way Sherwood hopes to aid the department in the future.
“I just have this huge network of people I can reach out to,” he said. “I can ask, ‘Hey, I need this. Have you heard about this?’ And then I have a fire chief cadre all over the country where I can shoot them a quick email, whether it’s Florida or Utah, ‘Have you guys encountered this?’ That’s been pretty cool.”
Sherwood plans to share more details about this project as it develops.
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