Staff

With over 32 years in fire service, Chief Esbensen has served as a firefighter, Squad Lieutenant, Assistant Chief – Operations, and Fire Chief. He started his career as a probationary firefighter with the City of Eden Prairie’s volunteer fire department in 1986. In 1988, he was promoted to the role of Squad Lieutenant, and in 1994 he was promoted to Assistant Chief – Operations. All of these roles were as a volunteer. During this time, Chief Esbensen was highly engaged in the private sector, where he had a successful career starting new business ventures and growing existing entities. In 2002, Chief Esbensen was selected as Eden Prairie’s first full-time Fire Chief / Director of Emergency Preparedness.

Chief Esbensen has a bachelor of arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Bethel College in Minneapolis. In addition, he has associate degrees in both Fire Science and Emergency Management from Hennepin Technical College in Minneapolis. Chief Esbensen is also a certified Emergency Manager with the State of Minnesota and is a Nationally Registered EMT‑A.