CALGARY – Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth will soon be leaving, taking with him a half century of memories of those he fought fires with — and of one who never made it back.
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CALGARY – Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth will soon be leaving, taking with him a half century of memories of those he fought fires with — and of one who never made it back.
CALGARY – Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth will soon be leaving, taking with him a half century of memories of those he fought fires with — and of one who never made it back.
Dongworth, in an interview, said he’ll never forget that one particular morning in July 1992 when he stepped through the char of the 17th Avenue Inn where just hours earlier firefighter Morley James died.
“It was sobering for sure,” Dongworth said. “It was an eerie place knowing that one of our people died that night and ironically Morley had gone into the 17th Avenue Inn fire with a fellow I had trained with.”
James died looking for victims, taking the lead as he entered the burning building looking for anyone to rescue. He doused the flames until he reached the end of his hose line. He kept going, found another line, hooked it up and kept spraying until his air supply hit a critical low. He tried to get out, got disoriented in the smoke, was overcome by heat and the fumes and collapsed.
“People love their firefighters and it’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about the folks that show up.”
Dongworth is 69 and has been the city’s chief for the past 11 years after joining in 1992.
Before that, he fought fires in the United Kingdom.
