An assistant fire chief with the Mandeville Fire Department was killed in rollover crash while responding to a brush fire Wednesday night.
Lucas Stephenson, 25, was responding to a brush fire when the brush truck he riding in crashed around 9:30 p.m. in Mandeville.
“Lucas was an integral member of first responders here in Miller County. He would respond to help with any event that required his experience and training, sometimes even alone," Miller County Judge Cathy Harrison told KSLA.com. "We are devastated by his untimely passing and request the public to honor this family, most of which are also firefighters.”
Stephenson completed his entry level training in 2013 and was named assistant fire chief of the Mandeville Fire Department in 2019. He also served on the Mill County dive rescue team.
“The truck with the water, the tools and those kind of things, as top heavy as it was then began to roll the fire truck at that point at least flipped two or three times," Texarkana Police Accident Investigator Less Munn said, noting that investigators will be back at the scene Thursday morning to continue their investigation.
"He was like my brother," Mandeville Chief Travis Loehr said. "We sweat together during the summer and froze to death during the winter. He was my brother and it’s going to be hard."
