Firehouse.Com - In The Line of Duty - 11/30/99 - Four Firefighters Fallen on Duty

Firefighter Jack Garnett, 54, of Quapaw Volunteer Fire Department in Okalahoma died on Nov. 20 while responding to the scene of a grass fire. He reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Penn. Asst. Chief Dies After Falling Ill at Wildfire

Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Yost, 48, of the Cochranville Fire Department in Pennsylvania died on Nov. 27 after responding to a wildland fire.

Yost was responding to a wildland fire on Nov. 20 when he began feeling bad. He came back to his station then went home where he called for an ambulance. He died 7 days later.

Yost has been a volunteer since 1974. "He was a good man," said Fire Chief Mike Linnenbaugh. "He would do anything for you in the world."

Yost was awarded for Outstanding Leadership by his company in 1998. He is survived by his wife Linda, his daughter Kenda, and his son Kenneth.

Jersey City Firefighter Collapses at Station

Firefighter Brian Andrew Lee, 38, a career firefighter with the Jersey City Fire Department, collapsed and died on Nov. 16. at the fire station. Funeral services were held on Nov. 20, the United States Fire Administration reported this week.

Veteran Lousiana Fire Chief Passes

The Maurice Volunteer Fire chief of 31 years died Nov. 18 of an apparent heart attack within minutes after arriving on the scene of a gas transporter fire.

Chief Fred Broussard, 69, left his fire station for the last time around 7:30 am on "Big Fred", the fire engine that was named after him. He arrived on the scene to find the cab of a gas transporter truck in flames at a service station approximately 1.5 miles from the fire station.

Within minutes Chief Broussard went down on the truck from an apparent heart attack. Two firefighters and an off-duty paramedic started performing CPR. Broussard died on the pump panel catwalk of “Big Fred”. He was pronounced dead at the Abbeville General Hospital according to First Captain Kenny Broussard, no relation.

"He was known as 'The Chief' from every fire department in this area," said Captain Broussard. "He was a leader, he was a perfectionist, he was a great motivator."

Chief Broussard has been the chief of the Maurice Fire Department since 1968. He oversaw the construction of the fire station and the purchase of the most recent fire engine, "Big Fred".

He was the past President of the Louisiana Fire Chief's Association and Vermilion Parish Fire Chief Association. Broussard was also Firefighter of the Year for the Maurice Volunteer Fire Department several times. He owned a plumbing and electrical store which he recently retired from.

"We could always do better and I never heard him make an excuse for anything," recalls Captain Broussard.

He is remembered as a people person who could "get the best out of anyone".

He is survived by his wife, 1 son who is also a firefighter, 3 daughter and "22 firefighters," according to Captain Broussard.

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