Derek Bergsten, 38

By Barbara Connors

Derek Bergsten’s rise through the ranks to chief of the Rockford Fire Department in his mid-30s is something city alderman Nancy Johnson describes as meteoric, and many would agree. Bergsten admits it is more typical to assume the responsibilities for running a fire department in your mid-40s or -50s.

As fire chief, Bergsten oversees a staff of more than 280 firefighters and almost 35 telecommunications professionals, as well as the 911 call center for the City of Rockford. He oversees rescue services for bioterrorism, technical rescue, water rescue, vehicle and machine extrication, hazardous materials and first disaster response.

The fire and emergency medical responses total more than 26,000 annually.

Bergsten also is responsible for the department’s roughly $41 million budget. “My concerns are to keep the level of services up with the city’s financial situation, and to make sure that all of the firefighters go home in the same condition they arrived in.”

Bergsten attributes part of his success to having the patience to think things through. “You have to be determined that you are going to achieve your goals.”

That strong work ethic and patience may have come from years working at his family’s restaurant, the popular Top Hat in Rockford. “My dad was a person of high expectations,” Bergsten said. As a boy he often worked every day, with responsibilities to open or close the restaurant. He also accompanied his dad, a volunteer firefighter, to the station. Both experiences taught him about teamwork and camaraderie – and the desire to be a firefighter.

After joining Rockford’s fire department in 1994, Bergsten set his sights on the fire chief position. His calm determination to reach his goal meant spending a lot of evenings away from his three children (Alexandra, Sophie, and Jackson) and his wife, Christine. Many evenings were spent in class at Northern Illinois University, earning his master’s degree in public administration — something he knew would be necessary to test for the fire chief position.

“It took me five years, and I would have never been able to get my master’s without my supportive family – we were all committed to that goal.”

In addition to work, study and family, Bergsten is involved in a number of community service projects, including as board member of the Rock River Valley Food Pantry, an emergency assistance program that supplies food to needy families. “The pantry provides emergency food assistance to thousands of families on a monthly basis, and is dedicated to meeting that need,” he said.

Not one to rest on his accomplishments, Bergsten currently is pursing the Executive Fire Officer Designation from the National Fire Academy in Emittsburg, Md. The first member of the Rockford Fire Department to be accepted into the program, he has a goal to complete the work by May, 2011.

This constant striving for improvement doesn’t mean Bergsten has plans for anywhere else other than his hometown. “I have set my sights here. My heart is in Rockford. This department is a family, not a stepping stone.”

Being in a fire department is like being a part of a family, Bergsten said, and it’s not a job for loners. “You are with your crew 24 hours a day. You see each other in good times and in bad. You are there to protect each other’s lives and to look out for each other.” The ability to remain calm also is important. “People are looking for someone to come up with solutions in dangerous situations. They are looking for a stable source to cling to.”

Alderman Johnson agrees that Bergsten is a stable source to cling to. “Taking over a department at a very tender age would certainly be a daunting task, one that Derek embraced with a calm, professional demeanor. He might have been ‘sweating bullets,’ but no one was the wiser.”