By FireRescue1 Staff
ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. — A deputy fire chief who was killed in the line of duty was honored at a funeral and remembered for his dedication to the fire service.
The Advocate reported that family, friends and colleagues gathered to honor 24-year fire veteran Chief Russell Achord, who was killed while responding to a vehicle crash on the highway.
Before the crash, Chief Achord was seriously injured several years ago when the ambulance he was driving was struck by another vehicle. He also beat lymphoma with chemo treatments last year, and his family and friends said the setbacks never stopped him from serving his community.
“Russell was no stranger to danger and tragedy,” State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said. “We honor a person who never complained … just simply went about the business every day of protecting others, to his own loss. He was a hero, he was a giver and he was a first responder.”
Browning added that Chief Achord was someone who “just got it done,” and was a man before his time who “set an example of how public safety should work.”
Toward the end of the service, pastor Joel Williams asked audience members to stand if Chief Achord ever saved their lives, if they had witnessed him save someone else’s life or if he had touched their lives in any way, and almost everyone in the crowd stood up.
“He touched so many people in a positive way,” Williams said. “That is something to always hold onto, celebrate and remember.”
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