By Lana Groves
The Deseret Morning News
SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Phil Whitney never took a sick day. Even if he was ill, the Springville fire chief of 25 years considered himself on-call 24/7, friends and coworkers said.
So when he called in early Wednesday morning to say he wasn’t feeling well, people were concerned.
The 72-year-old Whitney was found dead in his Springville home later that morning.
“I don’t envy the man who tries to replace him,” said Lt. Dave Caron of Springville Police, who knew Whitney well as a coworker.
Whitney had been “milling about upstairs” after 9 a.m., but when his youngest daughter, Cheri Erickson, wandered upstairs to check on her dad, she found him collapsed on the bathroom floor, Caron said.
Police said they believe he died of natural causes, but the medical examiner’s office will come back with more definite results later.
The death of the fire chief has been a great loss to the local fire and police departments, and the whole community, as coworkers and friends said he was well-loved and well-known.
Whitney leaves behind five children — two boys and three girls — and numerous grandchildren.
He started out as a volunteer firefighter in 1977 and was chosen for the top position just seven years later.
Since then, he transformed the station into a well-equipped operation worthy of the 21st century, firefighter Paul Wheeler said.
“He brought us out of the Stone Age to the Modern Age,” Wheeler said. “He was dedicated to making sure the department was up to par in equipment, and making sure everyone was trained.”
Driving a fire truck that was 10 years old, Whitney was at any fire where a back-up person was needed, whether it was noon or midnight.
“He had a work ethic that was very untiring,” said David Cope, a volunteer firefighter who knew Whitney through church service. “He was probably paid to put in 40 hours, but I’m sure there were weeks he put in 80. The clock didn’t matter.”
Cope, who served as bishop of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints student ward when Whitney was in the bishopric, said the fire chief spent endless hours helping others.
Instead of driving a newer fire truck with money set aside in the budget for it, Whitney would forgo the newer model to buy a much needed wildland brush fire engine.
“I asked why he didn’t replace it,” Wheeler said. “The brush fire engine would’ve been coming in future years, but he thought the department needed it now more than he needed a better truck.”
Before his death, Whitney had been working on a new satellite fire station project.
Caron said the fire department will likely honor Whitney, but funeral arrangements have not been made yet.
For now, friends are remembering a man who could be seen walking around with a smile on his face, one who revolutionized the local fire department as no one else could.
“He wanted to serve the community,” Wheeler said about when they started working there 32 years ago.
Copyright 2009 The Deseret News Publishing Co.