TIVERTON, R.I. -- Tiverton firefighters are mourning the death of one of their own. A veteran firefighter, First Class Gerald R. Leduc, died Sunday night while on duty.
He was a 25 year member of the fire department, and was assigned to Station 4 on East Road in Tiverton. Leduc was on a dive-mission, searching for a man who went overboard on Stafford Pond, when he went into cardiac arrest.
The rescue effort began around 7:00 Sunday night, when hordes of boats and divers raced to the Tiverton pond to join the search. Eyewitness News was first on the scene after the man went overboard. Emergency crews first got the call from people on shore who heard a woman screaming for help to save the man.
"We jumped in our boat out there," said Jeff Rego, a bystander who joined in the rescue, "and got out there as fast as we could."
Teams of divers from several surrounding agencies immediately went into the water. Somehow Leduc ran into trouble diving, and was raced back to shore. But, he could not be saved. We're told Leduc went into cardiac arrest.
Chief Robert Lloyd of the department gave a statement a little before 10:00 PM: "I'm very saddened for the family of this fallen firefighter... The Tiverton fire department and the town of Tiverton give our deepest sympathies."
The search for the missing man got back underway at seven-thirty Monday morning.
Funeral Information
Visitation for Firefighter Leduc will be held Thursday, Aug. 7 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Auclair Funeral Home, 690 S. Main St., Fall River, Mass.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Aug. 8 at 8 a.m. at the Auclair Funeral Home.
Related Links:
Tiverton Fire Department
