Born: Wichita

Family: Wife, Dawn; children, Mallory, 26, Bailey, 25, Sydney, 22, Reagann, 14, Dawson, 13 and Karson, 10.

Occupation: Tonganoxie City fire chief.

Dream job as a child: Bennett said he didn’t really have a dream job. “If I had one in later life, it probably would have been chef,” Bennett said.

Digging deeper: Bennett’s family moved to Tonganoxie when he was 2. He graduated from Tonganoxie High School in 1985.

He worked in the family asphalt business and then worked for Larry Bailey doing electrical work. He became a master electrician in 1987. That’s the same time he started as a volunteer firefighter for the Tonganoxie City Fire Department. That year, he also entered the fire science program at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

“I was dumb, I did it all at once,” Bennett said with a laugh.

Bennett volunteered for 15 years with the department before taking a year off. He became deputy chief in 2002 and fire chief in 2003.

His wife, Dawn, grew up in Basehor, but the couple didn’t meet until 1997 through mutual friends. Both were married previously and had children from those marriages before marrying in 1998.

Bennett said he loves to cook and grow a large garden. When his older children are home for the holidays, they usually try to make interesting meals. He’s made some tasty dishes, but others have been less than stellar.

“Too numerous to list,” Bennett said. “You’ve gotta bomb a couple of them before you get good at them.”

He said he likes to joke with people as well.

“I love when people give me a hard time,” Bennett said. “As long as it’s in good fun, and I like giving it back.”

For instance, he said Chris Weller and Charlie Ussery joke with him when firefighters hang lights on the Mayor’s Christmas trees and other trees downtown.

“They picked the shortest guy in town to put lights on the tallest tree,” Bennett said, relaying the ongoing joke.