Kevin Hammons, affiliate faculty member in the Fire and Emergency Response Administration program, died at age 68 on Dec. 16 following a brief illness. Hammons dedicated his life to protecting his community and sharing his knowledge and experience. The lifelong fire and emergency-response professional left a lasting impact on his family, friends, students and colleagues.
Brian Bagwell worked with Hammons for decades and remembers him as “a peer, a brother firefighter and, most of all, as a friend.” The two spent more than 20 years working together at the Aurora Fire Department and more than 10 years at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“Early in Kevin’s firefighting career, I was his lieutenant and he was one of the firefighter-paramedics on my crew,” Bagwell recalled. “Being much smarter than me, however, Kevin was quickly promoted up the ranks.”
Hammons went on to serve as a paramedic, arson investigator, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, fire marshal and deputy chief for the department. He later was a medic with the Aurora Police Department’s SWAT Team.
“Throughout the process, he remained kind, humble and committed to those he served and those he supervised,” Bagwell said. “He had a great sense of humor and was a dedicated firefighter, a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a true friend.”
When the FERA program was established in 2013, Bagwell brought on Hammons, who was well-known and respected in the firefighting community, to guest-lecture a course. Within a year, Hammons joined the MSU Denver community as a Category 2 faculty member in the FERA program.
“The faculty welcomed Kevin with open arms. … And from Day One, students absolutely loved him,” Bagwell added. “They loved his personality, his sense of humor and especially his incredible knowledge of the fire service and the material he was teaching.
“When Kevin died, I was contacted by multiple former and current students that had taken his classes and by several faculty members who all expressed shock, sadness and loss,” Bagwell said. “But they also wanted to share how much they appreciated having known Kevin, how much he meant to them and how much he will be missed.”
Mark Stephenson, associate professor in the FERA program and former battalion chief for the Aurora Fire Department, also worked with Hammons for years, including teaching National Fire Protection Association courses alongside Hammons in Hong Kong. (Hammons also taught pro bono in Australia, Israel, Malaysia, Canada and Macau as a goodwill ambassador.) Stephenson remembers Hammons as wise, quick-witted, intelligent, helpful, value-driven, personable, hardworking and professional, noting that Hammons genuinely cared about his students and their college experience — even if he dreaded grading papers.
“Kevin always left everything he got involved with better than he found it. His energy, values and skills made him a role model,” Stephenson said. “He had a moral compass and integrity not found in many. I will always cherish the fact that I knew him, worked alongside him and had him as a positive role model. He was truly a great man.”
A memorial service was held for Hammons in January. Anyone who would like to remember Hammons can share sentiments for the Hammons family online.