Volunteer firefighter killed in truck accident
He had celebrated a dozen years as a firefighter earlier in the day. But when the call came that night, he responded as a volunteer to a multiple-vehicle crash on a nearby interstate highway. As he was there helping accident victims, a tractor-trailer struck the 39-year-old father of two and killed him.
Though the truck accident was far from us in Boston, it has people across the nation wishing the best for his family as they try to deal with their sudden, devastating loss.
He was quickly eulogized by co-workers as a man who loved his family, life, his work as a Bloomington, Illinois, firefighter, and his volunteer work with the nearby Hudson Community Fire Protection District.
He had marked 12 years as a Bloomington firefighter this past Tuesday, but was on call that night as a volunteer with Hudson. Shortly before 10, a call came in about an accident on Interstate 39 involving several vehicles, including two 18-wheelers.
About an hour after responding, a semi-trailer carrying a load of cars smashed into emergency vehicles there for the earlier accident. Six members of the Hudson Fire Department were injured.
An hour later, one of those six was pronounced dead of his blunt trauma wounds at a nearby hospital.
Later, a captain with the Bloomington department said of his colleague, “He was a great worker, a great family man and he also knew how to have fun.”
The fire chief described him as “irreplaceable.”
Commercial vehicles are often the largest vehicles on the road. In accidents, they typically do the most damage. To discuss legal options you might have following a truck accident, speak with an experienced attorney.
Source: Firehouse.com, “Firefighter Killed, Five Hurt at Illinois Crash Scene,” March 6, 2013
- Our Massachusetts firm represents clients injured in truck accidents in Boston, Suffolk County, Brockton and nearby communities.
