As covered in a prior news article, the RF-DASH Team received funding to hire a full-time trainer to promote the program and conduct 20 trainings across the US and Canada, with an emphasis on the U.S. Grain Belt. We are excited to announce that we recently contracted Tim Zehnder to be the RF-DASH Lead Trainer. If you are interested in hosting an RF-DASH training in your area, please reach out to Tim!
Tim is an experienced firefighter and educator. He was active in the fire service for 30 years and also has over 30 years of experience in firefighter training and education. Tim is especially strong in grain safety and rescue.
In March 2025, Tim started as Director of Education & Safety at ExEnvironmental, a safety and rescue company based in Hudson, Wisconsin. As a part of that role, he will serve as the RF-DASH Lead Trainer. Prior to working at ExEnvironmental, Tim was Director of Fire Science at Mid-Plains Community College in Nebraska.
To help folks get to know him better, the RF-DASH Team asked Tim to respond to several questions.
Q: What led you to join the fire service?
Tim: I followed my father. Dad started as a firefighter in November 1968. I was 11 months old, and all I ever saw was him headed to the station for calls. I really never had anything else in my head other than to be a firefighter. Seems kind of what every kid says, “Oh, I want to be a firefighter,” but I truly did.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your career trajectory?
Tim: I started as a firefighter in January 1990 with Truman Volunteer Fire and Rescue in Minnesota, where I got to serve with my father for a year and a half before he retired. I was able to spend a lot of time with him as he was teaching fire trainings for the state of Minnesota. I would tag along and take every chance I could to learn.
I left Truman to work as a wildland firefighter on the Payette National Forest in the central mountains of Idaho. I spend two years working as a part of an engine crew.
Five years into my career, I started helping with live fire trainings and then teaching NFPA 1001 classes. From there it expanded to the technical rescue topics, and I went to as many training classes as I could in order to further my knowledge. I have always been involved in farming, so the farm safety side of the job was always important to me. I was working full time selling fire equipment and fire trucks which allowed me to talk to firefighters every day. I’d talk to them about not only the equipment but also training opportunities.
In 2005, I was hired to be the Director of Fire Training at South Central College in North Mankato, Minnesota. I spent 7 great years there before moving on to the Director of Fire Science as Mid-Plains Community College in McCook, Nebraska. When I accepted the position in Nebraska, I retired from Truman Fire and Rescue after 21.5 years, during which I held every position from firefighter to chief.
I spent 12 years in McCook and enjoyed my time working at the college, being a member of the McCook City Fire Department for nearly 9 years and making many great friends. While in McCook, I was approached by Fire Engineering books and videos to do a Grain Bin Rescue Video for them, I contacted my good friend Jay Penfield and asked if he would like to co-author the video with me, and he was on board. The video came out in 2019.
The opportunity to be a part of the RF-DASH Team came about after attending an RF-DASH train-the-trainer program in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I completed the RF-DASH Training as well as the Ag Rescue Training and Ag Rescue Train-the-Trainer programs. I was impressed with the way they organized the trainings and content. As a part of those trainings, there were several discussions about how to implement similar programs in other areas. Following those trainings, Cap and Jakob approached me about being a part of the RF-DASH team as a full-time trainer. This fit well with my background and skillset, so I decided to go for it. The ideal option was for me to be in a position where I could provide not only RF-DASH trainings but other associated safety and rescue trainings as well. Partnering with ExEnvironmental was a perfect fit. My previous work with the President, Jay Penfield, makes this partnership seamless. I am excited for the opportunity to deliver the RF-DASH program and other rescue trainings to firefighters and communities.
Q: What drew you to the RF-DASH program?
Tim: I found the website and did some research on what it was all about. I feel that we as the fire service need to communicate and work with the farm and ranch community to not only make it safe for the responders but also for the folks that work in that environment every day.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in your role as the RF-DASH Lead Trainer?
Tim: Helping build relationships between the fire service with the farm and ranch community. I am also excited to travel and see how different fire departments operate, meet new folks interested in farm safety and rescue, and help improve agricultural emergency preparedness and response in whatever way I can.
Q: You are also Director of Safety and Education at Ex Environmental. Can you tell us a bit about that company and how they relate to RF-DASH?
Tim: ExEnvironmental is a company that does emergency response, on-site stand by for confined space, professional safety and rescue training, and offers industrial services. The RF-DASH program fits well with the company, as it brings the prevention side into what we do here. We can offer a RF-DASH class one day and do the farm vehicle extrication, tractor rollover, grain bin rescue, or confined space training the next.
Q: Is there anything else folks should know about you?
Tim: I am married to my wife Angie, and we have 3 daughters and 1 grandson. I am a very avid deer hunter, and I love to golf.