A fire department funeral takes place this afternoon following the loss of a man who served Swift Current not only in combatting fires, but also through helping out in the community.

Captain Wyatt Evans died after battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma on August 10 at age 60.

Evans was with the Swift Current Fire Department from 1990 until near the end of 2015, providing the area with a quarter century of service.

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is one of a number of forms of cancer that are presumed through provincial statutes to be caused by fire-fighting duties, whether it was a single incident or repeated exposure to carcinogens throughout time on the job.

Deputy Fire Chief Peter L'Heureux is now on his 20th year with the Swift Current Fire Department, and he says when the people at the station think of Evans, it's his easy-going personality that comes up most.

"I didn't work on Wyatt's crew, but I did work with Wyatt, and Wyatt was an excellent guy, great athlete, he was a kind person and caring individual," said L'Heureux, adding that a lot of funny stories that are brought up stem from Evans' "laid back and relaxed" character.

"You start talking about different things when we're reminiscing here of lots of funny little stories and trips you did together and different things," said L'Heureux. "It usually came back to Wyatt's very relaxed, laid-back style - not too worried about things - he seemed to just flow along. That's usually where the funny parts of the stories came in."

L'Heureux said while Evans' easy-going personality made it great to hang out with him, it was also helpful on a professional level having Evans' calm demeaner at the workplace.

Evans, who was married with two daughters and a son, was into a range of sports, whether it was coaching high school rugby, helping out with minor hockey associations, playing hockey, cycling, fishing or hunting.

Since the Swift Current Fire Department posted of Evans' passing on Facebook, there has been a strong outpouring of support from the community, showing the impact he had on people whether he was working or not.

The service is 2 p.m. today at the Great Plains College Auditorium.