The City of Clinton has announced the appointment of Clinton Fire Department (CFD) Battalion Chief Mike McQuistion to serve as the new Fire Chief. Chief McQuistion will become the 12th overall Fire Chief during the 134-year history of the Clinton Fire Department, effective May 28, 2024. As Fire Chief, Mike will oversee 50 full-time fire fighters, and 5 Building and Neighborhood Service (BNS) employees along with an annual department budget of $6.5 million.
Chief McQuistion, born and raised in the Clinton area, began his career with CFD as a firefighter paramedic and has risen through the ranks over the last 25 years, serving in a wide range of areas: Engineer, Lieutenant and currently Battalion Chief. As Battalion Chief for CFD, Chief McQuistion is responsible for one of the Department’s three shifts. He leads a team on a daily basis through a wide variety of emergent and non-emergent events. Chief McQuistion serves as an incident commander on emergency scenes, assists in training and operations along with the Assistant Chiefs.
“I am extremely pleased to have Chief McQuistion as our next fire chief. He has impressive qualifications and well-rounded experience working with the Clinton Fire Department,” said City Administrator Matt Brooke. “Mike’s passion for the fire service is infectious, and he has a reputation as being a leader that others want to follow. He is visionary, dedicated, and team focused with a desire to foster innovation, collaborate, and mentor the next generation of fire service leaders which will benefit the Clinton community and Fire Department employees.”
The City retained the services of Mason City Fire Chief Erik Bullinger who oversaw an Assessment Center that had a team of three Fire Chiefs from Dubuque, IA, Rock Island, IL and Sterling, IL having all four candidates go through an Assessment Center specifically for the role of fire chief. The process started with five candidates but the applicant from another state declined moving forward. Battalion Chief Mike McQuistion, Assistant Chief Jeff Chapman, Lieutenant Kurt VanDellen and Lieutenant Ryan Winkler participated in the all-day assessment to measure behaviors that mimic the competencies, attributes and job performance skills that would be expected of a candidate to successfully fulfill the role of the position “Fire Chief” at the Clinton Fire Department. This was done through a series of interviews, a presentation exercise and a written assignment. The Assessment Team commented that Clinton was very fortunate to have four quality applicants that are all from the CFD. All four did very well at the Assessment Center with Battalion Chief Mike McQuistion receiving the highest score and the unanimous recommendation from the Assessment Center panel. On the second day, all four interviewed with the City team that included Mayor Scott Maddasion, Council Members Rhonda Kearns and Gregg Obren, Department Heads Susie Mesecher and Brian Lemke with City Administrator Matt Brooke facilitating and participating as well. The interview focused on leadership, management, scenario-based issues and concerns of the CFD and an ability to have each candidate express why they would make the best Chief. The interview panel unanimously selected Battalion Chief Mike McQuistion. Per code, the City Administrator makes a recommendation for Chief that is subject to Council approval. City Administrator Brooke wanted to broaden the procedure to create a fair, impartial and an objective process for all of the candidates.
Chief McQuistion earned a Bachelor of Science – Fire Administration from Columbia Southern University (Summa Cum Laude), Associate of Science – Fire Science from Columbia Southern University and holds a Paramedic Certificate from Eastern Iowa Community College.
Chief McQuistion is honored and excited to continue his career, now as Chief, of the Clinton Fire Department. He and his wife Karen, look forward to the new journey.
