James Wamsley
Fire Chief, Rock Springs Fire Department (Wyoming)
Chief Jim Wamsley began his fire service career in the industrial sector as a member of the Church & Dwight Co. Emergency Response Team at the Green River Plant in 1994. Wamsley became a certified High-Angle and Confined-Space Rescue instructor and earned his FF-I certificate, igniting a passion for service. Wamsley signed on as a volunteer firefighter for Sweetwater County Fire District #1 in 2002, advancing to the rank of volunteer Captain, and being appointed to Fire Chief of that agency, serving from 2006-2015. In 2015 Wamsley was appointed as Fire Chief of Rock Springs Fire Department. The Rock Springs Fire Department is a career fire department of 35 personnel operating out of three fire stations serving the City of Rock Springs and its 25,000 residents.
Chief Wamsley served on the Missouri Valley Division Board as the Wyoming Director, being elected to 2nd Vice President of the Division in 2014. Wamsley was president of the Missouri Valley Division in 2017. Chief Wamsley is the Chairman of the local Airport Board of Directors and a Board member of the Sweetwater Combined Communications Board, Vice-Chair of the Sweetwater County Ambulance Service Board and Co-Chair of the Sweetwater County Local Emergency Planning Committee. Wamsley also serves as the Chairman of the Senior Advisory Council for the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. Chief Wamsley was elected to serve as the International Director for the Missouri Valley Division in July of 2019.
Chief Wamsley is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, possessing an Associate’s of Applied Science in Industrial Maintenance from Western Wyoming Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Fire Science from Kaplan University. Wamsley is a native of southwest Wyoming and lives in Rock Springs with his wife Alisa.