Yuma Fire Department Chief honored at Wednesday’s city council meeting
Eduardo Morales
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma City Council honored Yuma Fire Department Chief Dustin “Dusty” Fields as he enters retirement.
Chief Fields is retiring from the department after 31 years of service.
While he has worked their for decades, he says he has been a part of it his whole life.
“For 54 years, even though I haven’t worked for them for 54 years, it’s just I feel like I’m leaving behind some family, it’s a bittersweet moment for me,” Chief Fields says.
Chief Field’s father was also with the fire department and he was happy to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“That joy of giving back to the community and I’m glad I’m able to kind of mimic what my dad did and leave a positive legacy behind me,” Chief fields said.
Meanwhile, Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls shares why leaders like Chief Fields are so important to the community.
“This is where they’ve invested in, not just their working hours, but their life, their family, and everything and that’s the kind of people we want working here in the city of Yuma, ones that support Yuma for what Yuma is and not just a paycheck,” Mayor Nicholls says.
Chief Fields give some advice for whoever steps into his role next.
“They don’t need to mimic what I’ve done, they need to set their own standards and their own way and they’ll be perfectly fine as long as they’re committed to the membership of the department and taking care of the community, they’ll be fine,” he said.
His last official day with the department is on Friday.
From everyone here at the station we’d like to thank the chief and wish him good luck in his retirement.