Fire Chief Bales Retires

Capt. Steven Bales presented his father with a Fire Chief hat statue on his last day with Golden Fire.

Fire Chief John Bales officially retired from the Golden Fire Department in October. To say he gave his life to the job is an understatement. October marked his 50th year in the fire service and although he likely could have kept going, he decided it was a good milestone on which to end his career.

City Manager Jason Slowinski presented Chief Bales with a Broncos golf bag for his retirement gift from the City. Jason said, “Our community has been made safer, stronger, and better off because of John Bales.”

You could say Chief Bales was born into the fire service. John’s father, Maurice “Bud” Bales, became the fire chief of the Wichita Fire Reserves in Kansas in 1950, the same year that John arrived into this world. He started his fire career with that same department on Oct. 9, 1968 at the age of 18 years old, running calls with his dad.

John Bales with his father in the 1950’s.

In 1974, John and his new bride Pat moved to Colorado after coming here on vacation and falling in love with the state. He was a firefighter for the City of Thornton and moved up the ranks during his 15 years with that department. He then went on to serve the Cunningham, Genesee and Rocky Flats Fire Departments before coming to Golden in 2000. John came in as a training officer, but just one year later, found himself applying for the job of Chief. “I thought at some point I might go for a Chief position, but I had no intention of doing it so quickly after coming to Golden,” said Chief Bales. “I was asked to step in as interim chief when Mark Wallace took a job in Texas. I guess I did okay as interim, because City Manager Mike Bestor suggested I put in for the job full time. The rest, as they say, is history.”

John says he stayed in the fire service for five decades because he really liked what he did, he liked where he was at, he was able to stay healthy, and most importantly, he had tremendous support from his family. “Once I came to Golden, I never submitted a resume anywhere else,” said John. “I feel like I’m going out on top, and that I left the city even better than when I found it.” Simply stated by Golden Mayor Marjorie Sloan, "The life's work of Chief Bales has made a difference."

John’s legacy continues with his son, Steven, who is a Captain with the Denver Fire Department. In addition to his devoted wife of 45 years, he has two sons, two daughters-inlaw, and three grandchildren who will likely take up a lot of his time in retirement. Although still a KU fan (we will forgive him for that), John is one of the most devoted Denver Broncos fans you will ever meet. He loves the game, and was a certified football official for the Colorado State High School Activities Association for many years.

John’s list of awards and accolades go on and on; and his service to the fire community will go on as well. He is now on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which supports smaller departments that are faced with the death of a firefighter. After all, firefighters never really retire… they just go on to their next call for duty.

Congratulations and the best to you in retirement, John. The City of Golden will miss you.

November 2018 | 9