After 51 years in the Missouri fire service, Crestwood’s Fire Chief Leo Meyer is hanging up his hat and stepping into retirement.

“It’s going to be hard to step away after this many years, but I’m looking forward to being able to unplug from the emergency responses,” Meyer said.

Meyer announced his plans to retire from the Crestwood Fire Department at the end of August; his last day will be Oct. 3. Currently, there have been no announcements as to who will take up the mantle of fire chief following his retirement.

Meyer’s career in the fire service began when he was only 15 years old, serving as a volunteer firefighter at the Cedar Hill Fire District. When evaluating his plans for the future, he narrowed his career paths to two potential routes: working as a firefighter or in the police force. Meyer had an uncle at the Cedar Hill Fire District and another uncle serving as the deputy sheriff in Jefferson County.

“My uncle did fire investigations, and the investigations side of police work was what I was really interested in, too,” Meyer said. “As I joined as a junior firefighter, had the means of helping people in the community — both EMS and fire — I decided on the fire service as the best of both worlds.”

He sought training and certification as an EMT at Meramec Community College, as a paramedic from East Central College and took fire training classes for his state certification at Jefferson College. 

Much of Meyer’s career in the fire service was spent at the Kirkwood Fire Department. There, he worked his way up to the role of assistant chief fire marshal, serving in that community for a total of 26 years.

“It was never about the money,” Meyer said. “It was about being able to help the community. I always looked at it this way: if I could save one life, it was worth more money than anybody could ever pay me. My greatest accomplishment was thriving on that. It was the motivation for my career.”

Meyer was hired to the Crestwood Fire Department as the assistant fire chief and fire marshal in January 2019 — he said he’d thought it would be a chance to slow down, after his work in Kirkwood, though he laughed as he said “that turned out not to be the case.”

In January 2023, Meyer was promoted to fire chief and fire marshal. During his tenure, he was responsible for multiple structural changes to the Crestwood Fire Department, including the promotion of three deputy chiefs. This allowed a chief or deputy chief to be available and respond to calls as soon as possible after the fire trucks arrived on the scene. 

“The department hadn’t seen growth in terms of promotion in years,” Meyer said. “This allowed that growth to transpire and start into succession planning for the future.”

Additionally, Meyer established Crestwood’s first ambulance service: the city now has two of its own ambulances, rather than using Abbot ambulances, which would provide medical assistance and transportation after Crestwood Fire’s team stabilized the patient. The first ambulance was purchased in August 2023, and the second was purchased in January 2025.

“With running our own ambulances, we have continuity in patient care from the time we meet the patient or get on scene to the time they’re transferred to hospital staff,” Meyer said.

Meyer’s service was recognized at the Crestwood Board of Aldermen meeting on Sept. 23, when a resolution was passed to honor his time in the fire service and his contributions to the city.

“I’d just like to recognize all the men and women I work with,” Meyer said. “My personal opinion is that a good leader is only as good as the crews he supervises. Your team is what makes you what you are.