Next St. Charles fire chief excited to build on already high standards

St. Charles Fire Department Chief Scott Swanson retired Oct. 25. The department didn’t have to wait long for his successor.

New Fire Chief Jeremy Mauthe has been with the department for 20 years and has served in almost every capacity. He worked his way up through the ranks to be the next chief.

While becoming fire chief was never part of Mauthe’s plan, he said he is excited to take on the role and continue to build upon the department’s already stellar reputation.

Mauthe said he feels fire service is the best career out there.

“The days are long and days are hard sometimes and nights are even harder, but at the end of the day, you go home knowing that people in some of their worst moments called you and you were there and able to help them. It’s very fulfilling,” Mauthe said. “I’m really happy that I ended up settling here and now I’m able to help facilitate the direction that we continue to go in.”

Mauthe grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his blue-collar parents instilled in him a hard work ethic. He studied sociology and criminal justice at Carthage College in Wisconsin before moving to Illinois in 1997. He worked in campus security at Aurora University for five years before finding his passion for firefighting.

While Mauthe initially had his sights set on law enforcement, he said the team dynamic of firefighting really appealed to him. He began the transition in 2001 and was hired by the Batavia Fire Department in 2002 before transferring to St. Charles in 2004.

In his 20 years with the St. Charles Fire Department, Mauthe has worked at just about every position. When he joined the department, Swanson was his duty chief and Mauthe worked directly under him for most of his career.

“Chief Swanson has been here for 36 years so he is an absolute wealth of fire service knowledge,” Mauthe said. “He’s always been heavily involved in every aspect of the department. He has a tremendous passion for fire service and an incredible work ethic as well. ... He’s definitely going to be sorely missed.”

When Mauthe was promoted to battalion chief, his first supervisor role, he said the decision was difficult because he loved being on the rig and was never aiming for an office position but knew it would allow him to make a bigger impact while driving and directing the department.

“Chief Swanson has pretty much left us firing on all cylinders,” Mauthe said.

We have a culture in our department that is just hard working,

—  future St. Charles Fire Chief Jeremy Mauthe

Mauthe said St. Charles is a high-achieving fire department with a great culture and high standards. He said in recent years many firefighters have come to St. Charles from other departments, some even taking pay cuts, because of its great reputation.

“It speaks volumes to what this department is and what we represent,” Mauthe said. “I’m definitely not responsible for that solely, but for a while now, the training aspect of it and how we go about training our people and creating that culture, I definitely had a hand in and I’m proud to see that it has really thrived.”

Mauthe said his primary responsibility is to maintain the high standards, positive culture and relationship with the citizens and build on it.

“For me, right now, it’s a heavy weight,” Mauthe said. “Chief Swanson has really maintained that high bar that has been with our department for a long time, so it means a huge responsibility to the citizens, to the City Council and to the mayor, but then also to the individuals that I’m tasked with supervising.”

Swanson said he is leaving the department in great hands. He said he believes Mauthe will be a great leader and described the department as a team of go-getters who want to continue to improve.

“I think he’s going to make a great chief and I think it’ll be a great command team,” Swanson said. “We’ve built it to a great standard, and the one thing I’ve always taught is that we’re building on the shoulders of those who came before us, so I think they’ll take it from where we are now and make it even better.”

Mental health plans

Mauthe said because Swanson is leaving the department in excellent form, there aren’t any major changes or corrections that need to be made immediately, but he does want to build up some of the mental health services for their members and those they serve.

Mauthe said improving the mental aspect of the job is important to him. He chairs the department’s fitness and wellness committee, and while he said they do an excellent job on the physical wellness side of things, fire service in general has been somewhat behind the curve on the mental wellness side.

“For both police and fire, these jobs are extremely demanding and some of the things you see and encounter are traumatic,” Mauthe said. “We’ve had a huge influx since COVID-19 with people in mental health crises.”

Mauthe said providing training and resources for dealing with mental health crises is vital, not only for the community, but for those responding to emergencies.

“I’d love to see some mental health and wellness check-ins for our people to remove the stigma that has been pretty prevalent in police and fire service for decades,” Mauthe said. “Prioritizing that across police and fire service nationwide is starting to come around and I’m glad it is because it’s really, really necessary.”

Mauthe was one of several members of the department who rose in rank with Swanson’s retirement. Battalion Chief Jason Peterson was promoted to deputy chief and several others will follow suit.

“We have a culture in our department that is just hardworking,” Mauthe said. “It’s just nice when you’ve got hard workers with great attitudes as well. It makes the day go by so much better.”

Mauthe is an avid hiker and was a volunteer coach for his son’s team in the Kaneland Youth Football League for several years. He has worked as an adjunct instructor for Waubonsee Community College’s fire service associates degree program.

Mauthe and his wife, a clinical social worker in St. Charles, live in Kane County and recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary. They have two children in college, one of whom is considering going into the fire service.