Veteran KY Firefighter Dies after Shift

Members of Montgomery County Fire/EMS are mourning the loss of a longtime firefighter who died following his shift.

Firefighter/Paramedic James "Dewon" Wells, 52, worked an eight-hour shift on May 5. Twice before he left the station around 4 p.m. he told colleagues he wasn't feel well, including suffering numbness to the mouth.

Still not feeling well, Wells went to the medical clinic around 2 p.m. on May 6 and left after he reported that he was feeling better.

His wife returned home to find him unresponsive and she began CPR, according to a release from the U.S. Fire Administration.

Wells was transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Mount Sterling, where he was pronounced dead.

"Everybody loved him, Dewon was a good guy," chaplain Howard Hamilton told WKYT. "He had a good heart, a great teacher. As we say, he's raised several firemen here."

Officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause of his death.

Visitation will be held May 10, from 4-9 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Mount Sterling, KY. The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. on May 11 at the First Baptist Church in Mount Sterling.

Wells is survived by his wife, Lori Ann Lawson Wells; his mother, Sandra Osborne Helton; his father, James Edwin Wells and stepmother Patty; two sons, Jason and Jeremy McClanahan; one daughter, Sarah McClanahan; and three grandchildren, Alexander, Jillian and Ava.