Firefighting is a family affair for newly appointed Chief Dan Roghair. Dan’s father, Roger, served the OCFD for almost 30 years, now 2 of his sons, Andrew and Lee are volunteer firefighters as well as serving OCFD.

Dan was born and raised in Orange City. After graduating high school, he went to the Marine Corps and then returned to attend and graduate from Northwestern College. He is married to Karen, and they share 3 sons. They have 3 grandchildren and 2 more on the way! He enjoys cooking and staying busy with projects.

In addition, Dan serves as the adjutant of the American Legion post, is on the Sioux County dive team, and the NW Iowa Critical Incident Stress Management team. Dan shared, “At the core, my focus is to protect and serve those around me professionally and safely. I am blessed to have a department that looks to the future by offering a high school student firefighter program, college student mentorship, or application for those looking to join the fire service as an occupation.”

He sees the value in education and being willing to learn. “My first Fire Chief (Fred Dykstra) made it abundantly clear that I was the only person to determine if I was going to learn and serve or just show up.”

The fire service has continually changed over the years, and Dan is committed to serving the community with his best and to be ever-ready to embrace new challenges.