John Hjel has been a member of the Casselton, N.D., Fire Department for the past 17 years and currently serves as Fire Chief. From 2016–2021, he taught flammable liquids classes for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium. His fire department in Casselton holds the distinction of being the first fire department in North Dakota to fully switch to using SoyFoam. In addition to being a firefighter, John raises soybeans, corn, sugarbeets and wheat on his farm in eastern North Dakota.