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Show Whetton retires after 21 years of service to county . WOODS CROSS South Davis Fire District Division Chief John A. "Jack" Whetton, 55, of Woods Cross, has retired from the fire district dis-trict after more than 21 years as a fire-fighter. Whetton, a truck driver for Consolidated Con-solidated Freightways Inc., joined the North Salt Lake Fire Department Depart-ment when it was first established in February 1967 and rose from fireman to lieutenant, captain and assistant fire chief. When that department joined the South Davis Fire District nearly four years ago, Whetton was made a division chief in charge of training. In all his years of fighting fires, Whetton said he was only hurt slightly when he fell and injured his knees during a fire about seven years ago. The worst fire he ever fought he said, was one of the first he ever helped put out a refinery fire at the former Standard Oil Co. refinery in North Salt Lake. Whetton said he spent 38 straight hours fighting that fire, which started when a huge gasoline storage stor-age tank caught on fire. "We had fire departments from Davis County, Coun-ty, Bountiful, Salt Lake City and other areas helping us," he said. The retired fireman said he hopes the South Davis Fire District can build a special training site someday, perhaps a two or three story concrete building where training fires can be set and where firemen can practice putting out fires and rescuing people. "Perhaps our department and other departments can go in together on it. Training is the most important part of a fireman's life and for the dangerous work they do, they deserve the best training possible." Hazardous materials training is another area in which Whetton believes be-lieves every fire department should concentrate. "More and more hazardous chemicals and materials are being transported through Davis County as well as throughout through-out Utah from radioactive materials mate-rials to gasoline and explosive and caustic chemicals. "Firemen need to be trained in recognizing various hazardous materials and in how to handle them in a fire, spill or other kind of accident." Whetton is an expert in the transportation trans-portation of materials since he has been a truck driver for 23 years and has driven nearly two million miles as a trucker. A native of Ogden and a 1951 graduate of Ogden High School, he worked for Mountain Fuel Supply Co. eight years, sold insurance for five years and moved s to south Davis County and started driving trucks in 1965. ' CHIEF JOHN A. 'JACK' WHETTON v-j Today, he drives double and tr! pie semi-truck loads sometimes a rig as long as 95 feet and weighing 105,000 pounds. "That's a lot of responsibility, especially in bad weather." The biggest reason Whetton retired re-tired from the fire department, he says, is the long hours he must work as a trucker. He spends six days a week on the road, driving from Salt Lake City to Ontario, Ore., three times a week, a round-trip round-trip distance of nearly 800 miles. Whether fighting fires or driving huge trucks, Whetton has had to learn how to deal with danger. His method? He says he tries always to look ahead, think ahead and plan ahead. "I try to look for danger before it happens. I look for potential poten-tial problems and think about solutions solu-tions and then, if there is a problem, prob-lem, I am ready. "Whether you are a truck driver or a fireman, learn all you can about ab-out your job and take your training seriously," he said. |
