Fargo City Commission appoints Gary Lorenz as the city’s next fire chief

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Fargo officially has a new fire chief and his name is Gary Lorenz.

All five city commissioners voted to appoint Lorenz after he was picked from among three final candidates in a national search.

Lorenz has been Grand Forks Fire Chief since 2018.

He previously worked for Fargo Fire for 28 years, rising to the rank of Assistant Chief.

He’ll replace Fire Chief Steve Dirksen who retired in May after 36 years in the fire service.

Dirksen was hired as Fargo’s fire chief in 2011.

“You know we started out with a really good applicant pool from all over. You know the process itself with any one of the three would have been a great selection,” said Fargo City Commissioner Denise Kolpack.

Lorenz will be sworn into the position in July.