Sheriff's Office • 100 North Fifth Avenue West • Duluth, MN 55802 Phone: (218) 726-2340 • www.stlouiscountymn.gov
Ross Litman Sheriff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: September 27, 2017
Media Contact: Lt. Neil Porter (218) 336-4366
Duane Johnson honored for outstanding work in emergency management
His job is to prepare for and coordinate the response to bad surprises, but earlier this week, St. Louis County Emergency Management Coordinator Duane Johnson received a very good surprise. Johnson was honored by the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers for outstanding performance in emergency management.
Johnson has worked for the Sheriff's Office since 1995, beginning as a 911 Emergency Communications Specialist and working his way up to various supervisory roles. He has served as the county's Emergency Management Coordinator since 2015. Away from work, he served 22 years as a volunteer firefighter in Grand Lake Township, and is an adjunct professor at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.
Among his numerous accomplishments in the less than two years he has served as the County's emergency management coordinator, Johnson has updated the county's Emergency Operations Center, equipping it to serve as a regional dispatch training center, which means it also can serve as a back-up dispatch location should there ever be an issue at the main 911 center. He activated the Emergency Operations Center and coordinated the response by multiple agencies following the July 2016 windstorm. Johnson has organized efforts by the County and several cities to begin using the Everbridge emergency alert system. He also worked with the Duluth Kennel Club to get a Pet Disaster Relief Trailer in this region - it's one of only two in the state - to provide an option for pet owners who need to evacuate during a disaster and don't want to abandon their pet.
In nominating Johnson for the award, his supervisor called him the perfect example of a public servant. Lt. Neil Porter of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office stated, "Day and night, Dewey’s vast emergency management and public safety experience, his knowledge and his personal commitment to the citizens of St. Louis County, the North East Region and Minnesota, are on display, all in order to make his home state a better prepared and safer place to live."
St. Louis County Emergency Management Coordinator Duane Johnson (left) is shown with Rick Larkin, outgoing president of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers. Johnson was honoroed by the group for outstanding performance in emergency management.
St. Louis County Emergency Management Coordinator Duane Johnson (left) is shown holding his award for outstanding performance. Next to him is St. Louis County Sheriff's Lt. Neil Porter, who nominated Johnson for the honor.
