Maricopa firefighter faces toughest fight

He put the same passion into rescuing a cat stuck in a tree as he did into fighting a massive tire fire.

 

“Typically, over time, guys kind of lose the passion, and the day-to-day activities become routine,” said Maricopa Fire Department spokesman Brad Pitassi. “But not with Danny. He has the same passion today as the day he started.” 

 

“It is infectious when working on his crews. He goes above and beyond the call of duty,” Pitassi added.

 

While Ashton’s desire to do his job and help those in need hasn’t faltered, his ability to do so was diminished, at least temporarily, when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer earlier this month and placed on administrative duty.

 

“It broke his heart to have to step off that truck,” said Danny’s wife Dana Ashton.

 

Ashton has suffered from intense back pain the past several months, receiving shots and pills to help him cope with the agony. This went on until his doctor told him the level of pain was abnormal and scheduled an MRI.

 

“We went in for the results of the MRI the next day,” Dana said. “We were floored when the doctor told us he had a six-centimeter tumor in his left kidney.”

 

According to Dana, the doctors told her and Danny the tumor was malignant, which was terrible news, but that they were lucky, too, because this form of cancer doesn’t typically cause pain until the situation is much worse. “The pain saved his life,” Dana said.

 

Ashton is scheduled for surgery in March to remove the kidney. Doctors told the family if there is no reoccurrences in the next five years, Ashton can consider himself cancer free.

 

Maricopa Fire Chief Wade Brannon said Danny could be cleared for normal duty in as little as 12 weeks after surgery.

 

“Everyone in the department is pulling for Danny,” Brannon said. “Our hearts and prayers are with him every day.”

 

Ashton started with the department as a volunteer in the early 1990s and became one of the department’s first paid firefighters several years later.

 

“I remember when we hired Danny,” said Maricopa Deputy chief Eddie Rodriguez. “He always had this drive to work out and learn everything about the trade he could.”

 

According to Ashton’s father and fellow firefighter, Dan Sr., his son has had a desire to help people since he was a young child.

 

“I always told him when he was small not to bully kids and not to just stand by and watch others get bullied,” said Dan Sr.

 

“I guess he listened because one day I got a call from a parent saying Danny had broken her son’s tooth,” Dan Sr. said. “The kid was picking on someone and Danny went to push him away and the kid fell and chipped his tooth.”

 

It isn’t only stories from his youth that show Ashton’s devotion.

 

When Brannon was working as a firefighter for the Gila River Indian Community, he came into contact with Danny on several occasions.

 

“I remember one summer there was a rash of four or five fires around Maricopa. At the time Maricopa was running two-man crews, and it was typically 20 minutes before backup would arrive,” Brannon said. “It seemed like each time we arrived to help there would be these two guys, Danny being one of them, dripping wet and exhausted, trying to put out this massive fire.”

 

“They were fighting an uphill battle, and one they probably could not win, but they never gave up.” Brannon added. “That is the same attitude Danny has today.”

 

Ashton moved to Maricopa when he was 11 years old with his brother and father. The trio would form an inseparable bond and at one time all worked for the Maricopa Fire Department.

 

“We have always just done everything together. I don’t know how to explain it,” Dan Sr. said. “We are best friends.”

 

According to Dana, Ashton was hesitant to tell his father about his diagnosis for fear of causing him stress.

 

“He just didn’t want to hurt his father,” she said.