Our leadership team
Dan Krier
State Fire Marshal
Daniel Krier has been state fire marshal since September 2023.
Krier began his career in public service in 2009 serving most recently as the fire marshal for the City of Brooklyn Park. During his time there, Krier implemented a robust fire inspection program, enhanced the fire investigation program, and expanded the department’s community outreach and educational activities. Before becoming state fire marshal, he was the vice president of the Fire Marshals Association of Minnesota.
Krier started in the fire service as a paid-on-call firefighter for North St. Paul Fire in 2014 and was later promoted to full-time fire inspector in August 2015. Prior to working full-time in the fire service, Krier spent six years at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Public Health Laboratory as an environmental analyst and a research scientist. His work at MDH included chemical threat preparedness and response, training of state chemical assessment teams, and research on firefighter exposure to cyanide in fire smoke.
He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Dakota and a master’s degree in environmental health from the University of Minnesota.
Amanda Swenson
Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal
Amanda Swenson is the chief deputy state fire marshal overseeing our fire prevention and fire code functions.
Swenson has served as the chief deputy state fire marshal since June 2020.
Swenson joined the State Fire Marshal division in 2014 as a fire and life safety educator. In 2018, she became the supervisor of the State Services and Support Team, which includes public education, fire service specialists, state response teams and fleet.
Swenson has been a firefighter on the Braham Fire Department since 2010.
Before she became a firefighter, Swenson earned a bachelor’s degree from Northland College in Ashland, Wis.
After earning her degree, she worked in the admissions office at Northland for seven years before returning to Minnesota. She then started working in 4-H youth development with the University of Minnesota Extension program in Mille Lacs and Isanti Counties. During this time, she also earned a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota.
Jodie Ryan
Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal
Jodie Ryan is the chief deputy state fire marshal overseeing our operations functions.
Ryan has served as the chief deputy state fire marshal since September of 2026.
He started with the State Fire Marshal division in 2024 as the state emergency response teams supervisor, providing coordination and administrative oversight for Minnesota’s hazardous materials, explosives, urban search and rescue and air rescue response assets.
Ryan has over 20 years of professional public safety experience. He spent 18 years with the Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Department in Arizona, progressing through the ranks until eventually holding the position of deputy fire chief. He holds an associate’s degree in fire science technology, a bachelor's degree in public safety administration and a master's degree in organizational leadership.
Elizabeth Arndt
Business Manager
Elizabeth Arndt is the business manager for the State Fire Marshal division, serving since September 2025.
In this role, she is responsible for managing the division's budget and overseeing critical business services, including administration, grants and fleet operations.
Arndt brings a strong background in public sector management, beginning her state service career in 2016 at the Department of Transportation (MnDOT). There, she held key roles, including financial project manager, business analyst, and contracts and finance manager, gaining cross-functional expertise across the Offices of Financial Management (OFM), Workforce and Agency Services (WAS) and Research and Innovation (ORI). Her achievements at MnDOT include leading major financial system upgrades (including the Statewide Integrated Financial Tool - SWIFT), re-engineering business processes for efficiency and overseeing multimillion-dollar research and contract programs. Prior to state service, she gained valuable experience as a finance manager at a marketing firm.
Arndt is a passionate leader focused on fostering and developing people and processes to implement sustainable change, with a strong commitment to promoting physical and psychological safety in the workplace. She has demonstrated this commitment through her involvement on the leadership teams of a state health and wellness committee and the MnDOT Strategic Women Advancing Transportation (SWAT) Employee Resource Group (ERG).
She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Metropolitan State University and a project management certificate from the University of Minnesota.
Steve Flaherty
MBFTE Executive Director
Steve Flaherty is the executive director of the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education (MBFTE).
He has been a member of the Minnesota fire service since he joined the Grand Rapids Fire Department (GRFD) as a paid on-call firefighter in 1993. In his 21 years of firefighting at GRFD, Flaherty served as a firefighter, hazmat officer, captain, first assistant chief, and the last six years of his career as chief of the department, prior to his retirement in March of 2014.
Before becoming MBFTE executive director in 2014, he worked full-time as the fire program manager for Mesabi Range College in Virginia, Minnesota, providing customized fire training for the fire departments located throughout the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota.
Flaherty earned an A.A.S. degree in fire technology and administration from Lake Superior College, and he holds IFSAC and Pro Board certifications as Firefighter 2, Fire Officer 1, Hazmat Technician, Fire Investigator 1 and Fire Instructor 1. He is also an honorary life member of the Minnesota State Fire Department Association.