This is not my Chief, I'm on another VFD that trains and provides mutual aid with this district, Chief West was a stand up go to guy.

Fire chief Dennis West, 60, dies

The Laramie County Fire District 1 leader continued his work from the hospital bed.

By Michelle Dynes

[email protected]

CHEYENNE - Family members say Dennis West was a fighter.

The chief of Laramie County Fire District 1 died early Wednesday. He was 60 years old.

Even after he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, he continued to fight, said his daughter-in-law, Jeannine West.

"He never gave up," she said. "He never stopped working."

Dennis West completed paperwork from his hospital bed and held work meetings at home. His son, Brad, said if his father had enough energy, he would come to work, even if it was only for an hour.

"He never said no, he couldn't do it," Brad West said. "He always found a way to get something done."

Cory West said he will remember his father most for his compassion.

"He would do anything for anybody," he said. "Other people came first."

This drive to help others is what attracted Dennis to the firefighting profession, Cory said.

Brad West said his father's final request was to make sure that the fire station in the Winchester Hills area would be completed. He asked that generous friends send their donations to the fire district's auxiliary group rather than to the West family.

Dennis West worked for years to build a second fire station, but now Brad said he will take on the project. Dennis wasn't just his father; he was his fire chief, too.

Brad became a volunteer firefighter in 1996. His first fire also was the first time his father served as the incident commander.

"He wasn't just my dad," Brad said Wednesday afternoon. "The fire department is a brotherhood, and he was my brother too. We fought a lot of fires and did a lot of different things together that way, not as father and son, but as co-workers."

Dennis served as fire chief for nearly four years. He first took the position of fire chief from 2001 to 2002 before moving to Florida. After returning to Cheyenne, Dennis once again became fire chief from 2005 to 2007.

Since 1981, he had served as a volunteer firefighter in several different communities, Brad said. And since he also had worked in the military, as a police officer and as a highway patrolman, public service was always important.

Every summer his entire family used their vacation time to volunteer for Cheyenne Frontier Days.

His daughter, Tiffany, said it was just another way to spend time together as a family.

And when Dennis fell ill, the West family learned just how many friends he had. Jeannine said nurses who weren't even assigned to him still stopped by his hospital room to say hello.

She added that so many Laramie County firefighters crowded into the waiting area at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center that she worried they would be kicked out.

"(His wife, Tami) wanted to add a thank you to the oncology department at the hospital for everything," she said. "They treated him like he was their own relative. The guys from District 1 all came to the hospital, and some of them were there until three, four o'clock in the morning, just to be there and support the family. The (fire) chiefs of District 2 were sleeping at the hospital the other night."

Brad said he was amazed to see just how many people his father touched.

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/local_news/02local_04-19-07.txt

Rest in Peace, brother