HEATHER CASEY
Firehouse.com News
Career firefighter/paramedic Bradley Pierce of the St. Charles City, Missouri Fire Department died while on duty at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.
Pierce, 27, apparently had a heart attack while exercising with weight equipment at Station 2. He had been with the 76-member fire department for a year and a half.
"All we know for sure is he was working out in the basement," said Capt. Scott Freitag. "Firefighters found him in a seizure, and then he went into a cardiac arrest." An autopsy is in progress.
Freitag was unaware of any health conditions that might have contributed to the 27-year-old's heart attack. "We don't really know of anything right now as far as preconditions; that's why we need the autopsy," he said.
Pierce is survived by his wife and a 19-month-old son. The couple had just found out last week that they are expecting a second child, Freitag said.
Pierce was very competitive in the Firefighter Combat Challenge. He missed qualifying for the World Challenge by only one second, and was training for it again, Freitag said. He was also an assistant football coach at St. Charles City High School.
The Firefighter Combat Challenge attracts hundreds of U.S. and Canadian municipal fire departments each year at more than 25 locations and is seen by more than 30 million people worldwide on ESPN. The Challenge seeks to encourage firefighter fitness and demonstrate the profession's rigors to the public.
"He loved being in the fire service and running the challenge," Freitag said.
Visitation will take place this Wednesday from 2 - 9 p.m. at Baue Funeral Home, located at 620 Jefferson St. in St. Charles. The funeral will begin there at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. At 11:00 a.m. mourners will follow a parade route to St. Charles High School for a memorial there, and will then proceed to the Memorial Gardens cemetery.
A memorial fund has been established for Pierce's family:
- The Brad Pierce Memorial Fund
PO Box 1870
St. Charles, MO 63302
Related:
27-Year-Old Mo. Firefighter Falls to Apparant Heart Attack