The Rocky Mountain News
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Fire Chief Jim Payne was listed in critical condition at a hospital Sunday following a fall off a ladder while he was working on a tree near his house, a department official said.
Payne has been in the intensive care unit of Saint Anthony Central Hospital in Denver since the accident occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday, said Fire Marshal Doug Saba.
A Wheat Ridge crew responded to the call and rushed the chief to the hospital.
Payne started with the department as a volunteer in 1989. He was promoted to deputy chief in 1999 and in 2001 became Wheat Ridge’s first paid fire chief, overseeing a largely volunteer department of about 105 firefighters.