BARTELSO, Ill. — An Ill. volunteer firefighter was killed after being struck by an arriving apparatus Sunday night.
Firefighter Timothy P. Jansen, 45, with the Santa Fe Volunteer Fire Protection District, was on the first pumper truck responding to a house fire, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Firefighter Jansen was standing outside the apparatus when he was struck. He was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead in the emergency room, suffering injuries to his chest, abdomen, and pelvic areas.
“The truck ran over him,” Clinton County coroner Phillip Moss said. “He had gotten off the truck and he slipped or something, and the driver was unaware of him and the truck was backing up.”
The man driving the truck that ran over Firefighter Jansen was his good friend and is “grief-stricken,” the paper reports.
30 firefighters had arrived to battle the fire. No one was inside the residence at the time and no other injuries were reported.
“He was just one of the nice guys, upbeat, always willing to do anything for you,” Chief Jeff Kampwerth said.
Firefighter Jansen, a 15-year veteran of the district, was married and had two daughters.
The county sheriff’s office is investigating the incident. Funeral arrangements are pending.