At about 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Phil Warren 110-Percent Award was given to a member of the Hazardous Material Task Force who showed an exceptional amount of dedication to his team and his work.

About 30 minutes later, the man who inspired the award passed away.

Phil Warren died Friday after a hard-fought battle with cancer, just four days before his 43rd birthday.

Although he had been given just six months to live this summer, his death last week came as a surprise to his teammates.

Melody Vess, assistance commander of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Hazardous Material Counter Terrorism Operations Support Task Force 11, said Phil and his wife were making plans to attend the Christmas dinner Tuesday. But, things took a turn for the worse, and during the dinner, the hazmat team received word Phil had died.

Phil was a volunteer member and captain of the hazmat team since its inception in 2001.

He also was a battalion chief and had been a member of the Corbin Fire Department since about 1991.

“This is going to be an extremely trying time for both agencies,” Vess said.

Phil became a volunteer fireman for West Knox Volunteer Fire Department more than 20 years ago. He served the Keavy Fire Department until about 1991, when he joined the Corbin Fire Department.

“Personally, I will miss his charisma, his ambition, and more than anything, his strength. He has always been the one standing behind me, telling me to go ahead, go ahead,” Vess said. “There are some wonderful characteristics of Phil that will never leave the team... Hopefully, some way or another, we’ll be able to make him proud of us.”

What started as a little pain in Phil’s leg became a diagnosis of stage four non-small cell adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer.

At first, Phil thought he may have a pinched nerve. He was a little tired and began dropping weight rapidly, he wife Teresa said in a previous interview. After several visits to the hospital, a malignant tumor was found in his lung.

The onset was quick, and spread from Phil’s lung throughout his bones in his ribs, hips, right leg, shoulders and left arm.

“The one thing I remember the most about Phil is he was always smiling,” said Karen Hill-Broughton, a paramedic with Whitley County. “He always had a smile on his face, and he was always real good as far as being an instructor. You could ask him anything and he would explain it to you.

“I met Phil in 1996,” Hill-Broughton said. “He was on the fire department. He also volunteered with the Whitley County Sheriff Department. He loved serving his community.

“I’ve worked a lot of car wrecks with him, and he was always there to help. My heart just goes out to them (his family.)”

To spend more time with Phil and help care for him, Teresa quit her job after his diagnosis. To help with the cost of expenses, the Corbin Fire Department set up a fund on Phil’s behalf at Hometown Bank of Corbin.

Members of the Corbin Fire Department also held a car wash, a benefit concert and served as waiters at David’s Steakhouse on 9-11, donating their tips toward Phil’s medical expenses. A pig roast in September by the hazmat team raised nearly $3,000, Vess said.

“We are definitely going to miss him,” said Corbin Fire Chief Gary Price. “He was an educated, well-rounded person and really knew his job.

“The fire department is a brotherhood, and losing him is like losing a brother. He was very well-liked and he did know what he was doing. He was well grounded in his emergency services. He had a lot of friends.”

Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Central Baptist Church, with the Rev. Shannon Hall officiating, under the direction of O’Neil Funeral Home.

A procession of fire trucks will take Phil’s body past the three Corbin fire stations.



Kelly Foreman contributed to this report.