Oak City Fire Chief Minton 'Butch' Beach died last week, nine days after he fell ill at a training drill in his station.
Fellow firefighters went to his house after the exercise to check on him and he was still feeling poorly.
Beach, 68, was transported to the hospital where he died on March 22 of an apparent heart attack, the U.S. Fire Administration reported.
He had been a volunteer for 49 years after joining the company at 18. He served as chief since 1995.
He also devoted 19 years of service to Edgecombe County where he was Director of Emergency Services and Edgecombe County Building Inspector until his retirement in April 2017, according to his obituary.
