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Emergency manager urges preparedness, outlines disaster thresholds and training plans
Summary
Emergency manager Ryan McCallum updated the Committee of the Whole on local emergency-management responsibilities, mutual-aid partnerships, disaster-declaration thresholds (county ~ $300,000; state ~ $11,000,000), and 2026–27 goals including plan updates, EOC training and Smart911 outreach.
Ryan McCallum, the city’s emergency manager, told the Fergus Falls Committee of the Whole that local emergency-management work centers on planning, coordination and providing accurate public information during incidents.
McCallum said the city’s emergency-management program is grounded in city ordinance and references Minnesota Statute Chapter 12. “The mayor or the legal successor has the authority to declare a local emergency,” McCallum said, explaining that a local declaration is often the first step to access recovery funds and to coordinate response resources.
He described mutual-aid agreements and the roles of incident command versus an emergency operations center (EOC). “An emergency operations center … is more of a coordination location than it is necessarily managing the on-scene operations,” McCallum said, adding that the city would scale requests for assistance through Otter Tail County and the state as needed.
McCallum gave threshold figures the committee should consider when seeking broader disaster aid: roughly $300,000 to meet a county-level threshold and about $11,000,000 for a state-level threshold that, if met, could open federal assistance. He emphasized accurate and timely damage assessments to support any declaration.
For 2026–27, McCallum said the city plans to update its emergency operations plan to align with county revisions, run an EOC training for city leadership, hold tabletop exercises and explore designated recovery sites to serve residents applying for disaster aid. He encouraged officials and residents to sign up for Smart911, the county notification tool that can deliver weather alerts and provide responders with protected medical information profiles.
Committee members praised fire and police staff and asked practical questions, including where information centers would be set up during a major incident and whether the library has a generator (McCallum said it does not). A committee member recalled a past local pathogen incident and urged vigilance and clearer protective steps for schools and residents.
McCallum said many preparedness steps are ongoing and that the city seeks council support for policy-level items such as mutual-aid agreements and delegations of authority during an emergency.
