GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council posthumously recognized Glenn Hill for his induction into the Wyoming Fire Service Hall of Fame for the year 2022 during its meeting Tuesday night.
Hill’s fire career spanned from 1949 through 1995, with only a short time off to serve in the U.S. Air Force, Green River Fire Department (GRFD) Co-Chief Larry Erdmann said.
Erdmann said that “the purpose of the Wyoming Fire Service Hall of Fame is to recognize the accomplishments and deeds of individual firefighters… who in their service to the first responders and citizens of Wyoming have excelled in their dedication and service.” Hill spent 46 years doing just that.
Hill was the first full time fire chief in Green River, and he also served as the president of the Missouri Valley Division of International Fire Chiefs for two terms, in 1991 and 1993. Erdmann said Hill is the only person to serve as the president of that board twice. The Missouri Valley Division is a division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs comprising the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
According to Erdmann, when long time Kansas City Metro Fire Chief Smokey Dyer heard of Hill’s passing, he said that Hill “was truly a pillar of the fire service and the division, and that his leadership and guidance were truly an asset to both the division and the fire service.”
In the letter confirming Hill’s induction into the Hall of Fame, Byron Mathews, Wyoming State Fire Marshal, commended Hill’s accomplishments in fire service.
“Induction into the Wyoming Hall of Fame is reserved for those individuals who have significantly influenced the Wyoming Fire Service as a whole. Chief Hill’s contributions will be chronicled among the great leaders who have positively impacted the Wyoming Fire Service,” Mathews said in the letter.
Erdmann said that Hill’s wife couldn’t make it to the Council meeting for this recognition, so members of the GRFD plan to visit her at her home to present his awards to her.
Mayor Pete Rust expressed his appreciation for the fire department for the work they do daily.
“We certainly, obviously, appreciate all the work the GRFD does every day in terms of risking their lives and serving the people of Green River. As long as I’ve been here, the community’s taken a great deal of pride,” Mayor Rust said. “What I’ve heard, oftentimes, is we have the best fire department in the state.”
Other Business
The Council unanimously approved an updated agreement with the Sweetwater County Detention Center to increase its rates to house offenders of city ordinance for jail sentences. Occasionally the Green River Municipal Court will sentence municipal offenders to jail time, and those individuals are housed at the detention center.
“[The detention center has] seen a rising cost… so they see a need to raise the fees,” Green River Chief of Police Shaun Sturlaugson said.
The cost to the city to house these offenders at the detention center will increase from $85 per day to $125 per day.
