Off-Duty West Des Moines Fire Marshal Puts Out a Neighborhood Fire

West Des Moines Fire Marshal Mike Whitsell fights fires for a living, but he usually has better equipment than a garden hose to douse flames.

Whitsell's quick action stopped a grass fire from spreading about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday in the vicinity of 7760 Ashworth Road.

Whitsell, who lives nearby, told that he saw a young boy running from the brush fire, but when Officer Jason Lichty interviewed the youth, he blamed the fire on two eighth-grade boys he claimed to have seen running from the brush fire. The younger boy said he yelled for them to come back, but they ignored him.

The younger boy said he did not start the fire “because his dad does not allow him to have lighters,” Lichty wrote in his report. “I advised him it was possible he found some other device to start the fire, but he said it was not him.”

Lichty then reminded the boy of the arson code, according to the report.