Williston’s Corey Johnson Joins Elite Fire Leadership Cohort
The City of Williston announced that Williston Fire Department Interim Chief Corey Johnson has been accepted into the Fire Service Executive Development Institute, a prestigious leadership program administered by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Johnson was selected amongst a pool applicants from across the United States and Canada to join the 2026 cohort. The yearlong program is designed to prepare new and aspiring fire chiefs for successful tenures by strengthening executive leadership, strategic planning and organizational management skills.
Cohort members will meet four times during the year, including a session held in conjunction with the Fire Rescue International conference in Kansas City. The first session is scheduled for Feb. 16–20, 2026, at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, with additional collaboration taking place through an online community.
Johnson was appointed interim fire chief in November 2025 and has served the City of Williston for 10 years in a variety of operations-level and interim leadership roles. He has 18 years of emergency response experience in fire and emergency medical services and earned Chief Fire Officer accreditation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence in 2023.
Johnson said he is honored to be selected and looks forward to networking with fire service leaders nationwide while representing North Dakota. City Administrator Shawn Wenko called the selection a reflection of Johnson’s leadership and said the training will help ensure the department’s long-term readiness.
The program is funded through a grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation, which has supported the initiative for 14 years.