The Associated Press

GEARY, Okla. — The countdown to a 2008 retirement from Geary's volunteer fire department was on for Assistant Fire Chief Jon Bingham, but he didn't even make it to the end of this year.

Two days after helping battle a deadly apartment fire on the southeast side of town, the 48-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on Friday.

Fire Chief Greg Lewis said yesterday the 48-year-old Bingham had been planning to retire after one more year with the department.

Lewis says he doesn't know what led to or caused the 19-veteran firefighter's heart failure, but suspects the stress associated with their line of work was a contributing factor.

On Wednesday, a fire burned through several units of the Grand Valley Apartments, killing 58-year-old Mark Whitebear.

It took rescue crews 18 hours to extract his body from 1 of the burned units, and Bingham and others had to remain there for the duration.

Lewis called the conditions of the fire "extreme" and "unusual," but said there's no such thing as shifts when you're a volunteer firefighter.