Scott Snyder began working for the Longmont Fire Department on March 5, 1979. After 45 years of service, he set his retirement date on March 5.
When Snyder was 16 years old he was looking for something to do and decided to join a volunteer fire department east of Boulder. He continued to volunteer for the fire department for 22 years although he was hired by the Longmont Fire Department only nine years after he began volunteering.
Snyder holds the record of the longest-serving city of Longmont employee with 45 years under his belt. All of his time with the city has been spent in the fire department.
When Snyder began his career in Longmont there were only three fire stations and only six to seven firefighters on duty in the entire city, Snyder said. When Fire Chief Steve Trunck began in 1988, Snyder said the fire department matured with the addition of three new stations. Today minimum staffing includes close to 20 firefighters on duty in the city, Snyder said.
“Scott has been a fixture in Longmont fire for a long time,” said Fire Chief Dan Higgins. “He has been indispensable for so many areas of this department but in particular our facilities.”
For most of Snyder’s career, he has worked on the facilities and equipment. He recently served as the project manager for Stations 2 and 6, which were finished this year. Snyder has had a role in the construction of every fire station currently in Longmont, according to Higgins.
Public Safety Chief Zach Ardis, who took over the role in 2021, said Snyder has been consistent in managing the multi-millions of dollars it took to construct the most recent fire stations and the expansion of the 911 call center.
“In my opinion, he has done a fantastic job. He has a lot of institutional knowledge that some us don’t have simply because of his relationships with folks across the city and also having done this job.” Ardis said. “I think it is amazing … not only to build two stations but then also trying to figure out some of the challenges that we’ve seen with construction costs.”
“All of the institutional knowledge that he has collected over the years … without him and what he knows about what we’ve done in the past I’m not sure we would have had the success that we did,” said Kerry Sheahan, senior project manager for the city of Longmont.
Sheahan believes the recent fire station construction projects might have taken even longer had Snyder not been involved. His knowledge gave him insight into how things are supposed to operate and allowed him to catch issues early.
Every day for 45 years, Snyder devoted everything he had to the Longmont Fire Department, Higgins said.
“I don’t know if there are many people that care more personally about making Longmont Fire Department a better organization,” Higgins said.
When Higgins was hired in Longmont as a firefighter, Snyder was a chief officer. There were times in Higgin’s career that he worked for Snyder. Higgins said he has always been amazed at how much knowledge Snyder has about the fire department and looked up to Snyder's work ethic. These are elements that Higgins has held onto as he advanced through the ranks.
When Snyder began his service in Longmont, roughly 43,000 people were living here at the time. Today, there are almost 102,000.
Snyder said that over the years experts have tried to apply more science to firefighting, but in the end “it just dragging hose and spraying water.” He has appreciated the changes in technology that have made safety gear better and the introduction of better breathing apparatuses.
While the technology has improved, Snyder said the fires have become more severe with the way things burn. He attributes these changes to plastics and the synthetic materials that are in modern buildings.
“It’s a lot more dangerous today,” Snyder said.
Over his 45 years, Snyder has served in several positions in the Longmont Fire Department. He said one of his fondest memories was when he made Lieutenant on one of the fire engines. He earned this position within four to five years of being hired as a firefighter, he said. He has also served as Batallion Chief, Division Chief, the city Fire Marshal, Operations Chief and Assistant Fire Chief — his most recent title.
“I think I ended up doing okay for myself,” Snyder said humbly, adding that he only graduated from high school because of vo-tech.
“Scott is going to be missed because he is someone that when you give them a task you can rely on and know he’s going to get the job done and it’s going to be done right,” Ardis said.
“It is obvious that he loves what he does,” Sheahan said.
Snyder is set to retire on March 5. His plans after retirement are to finish his yard — a project that is 20 years in the making — complete some other household tasks and travel a little bit.
“Keep learning and don’t be so confident that you become a liability,” said Snyder to the next generation of firefighters in Longmont.
