A volunteer firefighter on the Florida panhandle has died after being overtaken by the current while attempting a water rescue.
The U.S. Fire Administration announced in a release that St. George Island firefighter/first responder Brian Stephen Smith, 56, entered the waters on the Gulf of Mexico to rescue a man and a juvenile but was swept up by the rough surf and drowned on Tuesday.
Smith, a volunteer responder for the previous four years, was pulled from the water by colleagues and immediately transported to Weems Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith posted a 4-minute video to Facebook blaming Smith's drowning on tourists who did not heed red flag warnings posted on the beach and refused to stay out of the water.
“We’ve asked the tourists repeatedly, repeatedly, and this is who are going in the water - the tourists. It’s not the local folks, they know better. It’s the tourists,” Smith says in the video. “So please don’t go in the water or allow your children in the water. You’re putting other people at risk. I’m asking all the tourists don’t get in the water. If you’re in the water and you’re told to leave and don’t, you’ll be arrested. We’re serious about this. There’s no reason for any other loss of life.”
