Almost 12 years ago, Trevor Westman drove down from Des Moines, Iowa, to spend a weekend in Knoxville to visit a buddy. The trip changed his life. He’s still here. Still an emergency first responder. Still learning and teaching. Still loving his new family.
“That weekend really impressed me. I liked Knoxville from the start and that was an exciting weekend for everybody here,” he said. “Yep, I hung out in the Old City and Market Square the entire weekend and fell in love with Knoxville, the downtown and the people.”
Capt. Trevor Westman
That was the first weekend of October – October 5 – and Georgia’s Bulldogs were at Neyland Stadium playing Tennessee. Vols fans may well recall what happened. Georgia kicked a 42-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Vols, 34-31. But football Saturdays are fun and special. Win or lose. He felt it, too.
Westman, 39, is still in the Old City. He lives in the JFG Flats in the old JFG Coffee Building. Last week he had a great time watching the Knoxville Smokies open their 2025 Southern League baseball season in their new stadium – Covenant Health Park.
“I love living downtown and in the Old City. I love the location and being able to walk anywhere for what I need. And the best food in Knoxville is downtown,” he said.
He was a firefighter in Iowa and after heading back to Iowa, he applied to Rural Metro. It didn’t take long for Rural Metro to offer him a job. He returned to Knoxville on Thanksgiving Day and began work and lived at Station 31 in Powell on December 1.
He joined Rural Metro as a paramedic and firefighter. Westman was recently promoted to captain at Rural Metro Fire, leading the Green Shift’s Squad 236 at Station 36 at Emory Road and Bishop Road, between Powell and Halls. His squad members are Engineer Tristen Nelson and Firefighter Ryan Brothers.
Westman is a native of tiny Pela, Iowa, population 10,800, a graduate of Pela Christian High School. He attended Mercy College of Ohio where he earned his paramedic certification and also took a number of classes but did not graduate. Little Pela is home to the famous Pela Windows.
His two cousins, firefighters in Los Angeles, were busy recently battling the ferocious fires in and near LA. You can say his fire career began there years ago. He did a ride-a-long with a cousin and was hooked. “It was really cool and I thought wow, you get paid to do this? I’m an adrenalin junkie and love everything about it and now I’m trying to make a career of it. It’s a physical job and I love not being in an office all day and I really love the technical rescue operations.”
He is certified as a rescue technician, vehicle rescue technician and in confined space rescue.
Westman left Pela when he was 21 and moved to Orange County, an hour south of Los Angeles. He became an EMT and spent three years working for an ambulance company there. Then he moved to Des Moines and joined the Johnston Fire Department while getting his paramedic license. Next came the drive to Knoxville.
With Rural Metro, he’s gotten to know Knox County quite well. During his first 2-1/2 years he didn’t have a home station and worked wherever needed. He worked five years at Station 17 on Northshore Drive in Rocky Hill and was promoted to engineer. His next station was 44 on Watt Road and he left there as a lieutenant after two years. The captain has now been at Station 36 for two years.
This man loves what he does and who he does it with every day. “I love the camaraderie we have and it’s like having a second family away from home,” he says. “It really makes the work experience fun. The trust and the respect we have as professionals for each other is a major part of why I love what we do.”
Many emergency first responders deal with injuries. He’s fortunate that – to date – he’s never been injured at work. That’s not to say he’s never been hurt. He has.
Here’s where irony enters our story. His love of living downtown, ironically, kept him away from work for almost five months. In 2020, he was “longboarding” on his electric longboard near the intersection of 11th Street and Western Avenue. If you are not familiar with a longboard, here is its description: “A type of skateboard typified by longer decks and wheelbases, larger-diameter and softer (lower-durometer) wheels, and often lower riding height compared to street skateboards.”
He was longboarding in the street and came upon a patch of “stamped bricks” that wrecked his ride when his front wheels hit the bricks. He was airborne and then he hit the bricks. “I was going around 25 mph and lost control when I hit the bricks. The bricks broke my fall and my right shoulder. Tore it up pretty bad. Grade 3 separation. The surgery repaired the shoulder and my rotator cuff.”
He still has his longboard but says “it gets limited use now.” His fun now revolves around concerts, traveling, UT events and “spending way too much time golfing. I play most of the courses around here and also play in a golf league with the Knoxville Fire Dept. and Rural Metro firefighters.”
He’s a man who found his home. “I can see myself retiring here one day,” he says. “But not anytime soon of course. I’m a man who loves his work.”
His boss, Battalion Chief Brian Chesney, who manages six Rural Metro stations, loves having Westman on his staff. “He’s doing fantastic and he works hard. He’s a great teacher as well and he’s focused on making other firemen look good. And he makes me look pretty good, too,” Chesney says. “His leadership skills come natural. He has a great personality and draws people toward him. He’s a very effective leader.”
Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email him at the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.
Our Town Hero is sponsored by Aubrey’s Restaurants.
