Shawn is currently the City of Duluth Fire Chief and has been with the Duluth Fire Department for over 27 years. He has worked up the ranks at the DFD serving as a Firefighter, Fire Equipment Operator, Captain, Technical Services Coordinator, Deputy Chief and now Fire Chief. Over his career he has worked with veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and many other public safety partners who suffer from repeated exposure to trauma that takes a toll on both their mental and physical health.

Recently, Chief Krizaj learned that one of his fire department personnel, who is also a marine corps veteran, recently completed the 23V Recon program. After listening to his life-changing story and hearing that 23rd Veteran is expanding a pilot program to include first responders, Chief Krizaj was inspired to not only bring this program to the DFD but also become involved in helping to lead the transition beyond veteran only services.

As public safety leaders we need to do a better job of taking care of our people. A career of responding to other people’s emergencies takes a toll on our personnel that we haven’t always recognized, and didn’t know how to support. After seeing the success that 23rd Veteran has had supporting our veteran community, Shawn is proud to be a part of 23rd Veteran and believes that this support is exactly what some of our firefighters, police officers and other public safety professionals need.