Ben Staska named 2024 Owatonna Firefighter of the Year

When he was younger, Ben Staska didn’t want to be a firefighter; he wanted to be a cop.

It was when he watched his uncle, Brian Staska, a longtime firefighter and instructor in Austin, deal with terminal cancer — a diagnosis that was related to his decades of fire service. When the southern Minnesota fire service community enveloped his uncle with support, Ben Staska said it was then his desires shifted.

“That was something that changed my mind and made me realize that there is always bigger things than one as an individual,” Staska said. “By then I wanted to be a firefighter … I wanted to be ready.”

On Thursday evening, Staska was named the 2024 Firefighter of the Year. Hosted by the Exchange Club of Owatonna at the Owatonna Eagles, the club has been holding the firefighter recognition banquet for the past 21 years, inviting the Owatonna Fire Department to name a firefighter of the year.

Fire Chief Ed Hoffman said a “common theme” came out as members of the fire department submitted their nominations this year.

“Quoting one of the people that recommended Ben, ‘His expertise in various firefighting techniques and his passion for professional development has helped to ensure the OFD remains at the forefront of firefighting practices,’” Hoffman said. “I think that sums up much of what he has been doing.”

Though Staska was happy to share his journey becoming a firefighter with fun anecdotes, including being dismissed from his first class twice after the school he attended had yet to issue him a uniform, he asserted the recognition of the local fire service belongs to everyone who “buys in” and supports the OFD.

“It didn’t hit me what an honor it was to receive an award like this until I started to write the speech … Nothing is possible without the buy in of, not only your support system, but the entire department, the city as an organization — from the top down,” Staska said. “Probably the most important thing about that is we’re here to serve the community. None of this is possible, to receive an award like this for anybody, unless everybody is involved. It is maybe honoring one person year to year, but in reality this is everything that is the culmination of the whole department.”

Staska went to college for firefighting at Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin and later graduated from Riverland Community College with an associates degree in fire science technology. He joined the OFD in January 2020 as a paid-on-call resident, and eight months later moved to a full-time firefighter/EMT position in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Roughly two years later, Staska returned to Owatonna as a fire equipment operator.

And he is proud to be a firefighter in Owatonna, Staska told the crowd on Thursday. He is proud to be an employee for the city of Owatonna, because he says he sees and believes in the progress the community is making and the role the city as an organization is playing in it.

“Public service is literally defined as a service rendered in the public’s interest. So think about that for a minute, it’s a service that is rendered in the interest of the public. So if we, as a public service, do not render the public’s interest, we are of no use to them,” Staska said. “I think what the city of Owatonna does as an organization and as a fire department, is we have taken some huge steps into really holding up our end of the bargain when it comes to what we’re supposed to be.”

“Our city has worked extremely hard in what we have as a purpose statement and our values,” he continued. “We’ve come together, and the three things were brought up were: better together, community stewardship and pride in our work. It really does emphasize everything we should be as a fire department, as a first responder, as a medical professional — whatever you are if you serve others. That in and of itself is exactly what we should be.”

MN 100 Club

Prior to Staska receiving his award, the crowd took in a special presentation from Julie Gotham, the executive director of the Minnesota 100 Club — a Minneapolis-based volunteer nonprofit organization that provides instant financial aid to surviving families of first responders who are killed or severely injured in the line of duty.

Gotham said since the organization’s inception in 1972, who was including under the “first responders” title has changed. While first meant for police and firefighters, it has expanded to include EMS, DNR officer, correctional officers and members of the Minnesota National Guard who are serving as a first responder when injured or killed.

In 2023, the MN 100 Club gave more than $200,000. So far this year, Gotham said they have given more than $500,000 — including a $50,000 check issued Tuesday to the family of Voyageurs National Park Ranger Kevin Grossheim, who died Sunday while saving a father and two sons who were trapped on an island at the park. The three family members were able to swim to shore.

“In my opinion, Ranger Grossheim absolutely embodies what this organization is supposed to be about,” Gotham said. “He was a man who answered the call, and he sacrificed his life to save someone else. We want to make sure that his family knows that there is someone out there who cares, who appreciates that service and will do whatever we can to help — at least to take away the financial worry.”

More information on MN 100 Club and how to support first responders and their families can be found at mn100club.org .