Shawn Shelton never set out to be a firefighter and never even really considered the profession until a friend mentioned it.
Now, 31-plus years later, Shelton is retiring from the Pueblo Fire Department. He's spent the last three years as chief.
Shelton's family moved to Pueblo in 1975 when he was just 11 years old.
Early in his life, he worked as a ranch hand in Avondale. He also spent some time working as a mechanic.
In his early 20s, Shelton decided to take the firefighting test. His friend's dad was a firefighter at the time and they spoke about the potential of that career, so Shelton thought, "Why not give it a shot?" That friend, Bill Nemick, has also been with the department for decades.
"I never had a burning desire to be a firefighter, but it just sounded neat," Shelton said. "So I took the test and was fortunate enough to get hired in 1987 at 25 years old. I've loved it ever since; it's the best job I could have hoped for."
Shelton began his career at the fire department like most young firefighters: Riding around on a fire truck going from call to call wherever he was needed.
In his third year he was promoted to fire medic.
Shelton spent a year in that role before he was promoted again, this time to fire engineer.
In Shelton's ninth year on the job he was promoted to captain and spent the next nine years of his career in that role at the fire station on the East Side.
From there, Shelton was promoted to assistant fire chief and moved into the role of fire chief in 2015, when the previous chief, Dale Villers, retired.
Shelton, now 57, recently announced his retirement. He said he pondered the decision for a while before deciding that now is the right time.
"I had a three-week vacation planned that was about to start, and just with the whole newness of our government with the mayor coming in, it just appeared to me that this is the perfect time," Shelton said.
"A lot of the stuff I had been working on is heading down the right path. There are so many fantastic leaders throughout this entire organization. There's such a strong pool of leaders that they won't miss me. It's just seamless."
Deputy Chief Rick Potter will serve as acting fire chief in Shelton's absence.
Shelton said what will make him most proud when he reflects upon his career will be the difference he made in people's lives.
There's a story Shelton shared that he said helped him understand the magnitude of that impact.
"I delivered a baby when I was young and early into my career," said Shelton. "I only did that three times. It was probably nine years later when I was at Safeway (and) this lady kept looking at me and I wound up behind her in line. She asked me my name, and I told her who I was and she said that I delivered her baby.
"She told me that you never forget someone who makes that much impact on your life. In this job, on a daily basis, you have a chance to positively impact someone, even in a bad situation. That, in general, is what I will miss the most."
Shelton said he is proud of some of the projects he has helped to get up and running, such as the Directing Others to Services program, which assists in helping those who call 911 numerous times during the course of the year find resources and services that address their core issues, which oftentimes have simple solutions that don't require an ambulance ride or emergency room visit.
"Other people did the work on those projects that made them work; I was just there to accommodate and nurture those things," Shelton said. "In the role of chief, you don't physically do the work: You have to find productive people to get those things done."
Shelton said he will, of course, miss the friendships he's developed over his three-plus decades at the fire department.
One of those friends is Potter, who is approaching his 29th year at the department.
Potter said he and Shelton came up through the ranks together and got to work closely over the past three years while he served as deputy chief.
He said he can't help but get emotional when talking about Shelton now that he's leaving the department.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him," said Potter. "His genuine concern for not only the citizens of this city but the members of the department is incredible. I enjoyed working for him and with him so much.
"He's going to be missed tremendously. Beyond words. I think you can go around this community and ask people in a lot of different areas and I think you'd get the same feedback from them."
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