The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Firefighter/Paramedic James “Dewon” Wells, 52, of the Montgomery County Fire/EMS on May 6, 2017.
Firefighter James ‘Dewon’ Wells worked his shift on May 5, 2017, from 0800hrs to 1600hrs. During his shift, he complained to a fire department member that he was experiencing numbness in his mouth. Immediately before leaving the station at the end of his shift, he complained to his chief that he had a headache and did not feel well. The following day, May 6, 2017, at approximately 1400hrs, Firefighter Wells was still not feeling well and went to a medical clinic, but returned home since he started to feel slightly better. Soon thereafter, his wife came home and found him unresponsive on the couch and not breathing. His wife initiated CPR and Firefighter Wells was transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Mount Sterling, where he was pronounced deceased.
Tribute is being paid to Firefighter/Paramedic Wells at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 36 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2017. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
