Long time Burlington Firefighter passes away after battle with colon cancer

Burlington, Iowa (KWQC) - Kylon Duttlinger graduated from Pleasant Valley High School and served as a Firefighter for 31 years.

Duttlinger served on the Riverdale Department as a volunteer for 6 years before joining the Burlington Department were he spent 25 years.

He was the driving force for getting benefits for Firefighters that have gotten cancer through their work.

”Everything that he did, whether, you know, on his days off, if he was going fishing, or he’s taking a hunting trip, he was doing it with other Firefighters.” Chief Matt Trexel, Burlington Fire Department said.

Trexel says besides being a Firefighter, Duttlinger was a guy co-workers came to for help.

“He’s really served as a mentor to our, our new hires,” Trexel said. “We have a lot of pictures of him doing pump training, they could go to Ky, not just with what we would call union issues, but just job information.”

Even though Duttlinger was sick, Trexel says he never complained.

Ky had a great attitude while he was sick,” Trexel said. “I mean, he had a bucket list of things that he wanted to do, and he just kept punching away at that bucket list, whether it’s a fishing trip, a hunting trip, he bought a Corvette, he got a camper, he just did all these things that he had just put off.”

Lieutenant Nate Skifstad, Burlington Fire Department shares a similar experience with Duttlinger.

“Ky was one of those salty Firefighters that has been there, done that,” Skifstad said. “And he knew how to respond to things, he was happy to respond to things, if you wanted to see Ky light up, it would be on a scene.”

“Right up to the end, Ky had a really good attitude,” Trexel said. “He kept talking about fighting the day before he passed away, he was still making plans for turkey hunt in the spring, going fishing, I’d never heard him once talk about you know, giving up.”

Duttlinger was born in Iowa City and was only 51 years old when he passed.

The remembrance service for Duttlinger will be at 11 a.m. Saturday April 1 at Burlington High Schools Carl Johanssen Gymnasium.

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