Fla. firefighter dies in crash with garbage truck

By FireRescue1 Staff

WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. — A volunteer firefighter died Thursday after crashing into a garbage truck, according to officials.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that Wakulla County fire Rescue volunteer firefighter Stephen Berry, 30, was driving his truck on the highway when he slammed into the back of a garbage truck that was stopped in the lane.

Berry, who was also a correctional officer at the state prison, had been a volunteer firefighter for around eight years and was on his way to becoming a full-time firefighter, according to Chief Louis Lamarche.

https://www.facebook.com/WakullaCountyFireAndEms/posts/2242258585834123?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBFrmUkUx57Je2CWowCor-qtw2c3FQ1F7J1SD4IvrrK2vl0udvP3WnkSzPzTNy1FSlz2aBgialktyGOkMxZmgU5d7PfAXU6G1Xb7Ge_NzTWbi6bEHtry0FuaGc9GWsQj_vK9TMj5iyo7uc_YzO5jcatdXxHpDnz15He16--gWQ5t-sFVPHcn8EeBtFBJvlhwcs1B0P12mHgtx0QKhB84Qn0jLIx61RlD5p4p5XBbnelJaPza1y0bgdFEW1AJmpoykD8T5SQ_jmoIjiYUGdijVQ5IPhaGH5Lsk2vlcQfoSvJdj0T6d_9fSt0K53KmhxczwbvJr4O88Ik2j2NzG6wbQ&__tn__=-R

“He was a great volunteer committed to helping the community,” Lamarche said. “The whole department, we’re all very saddened. It’s a tragic loss when you lose somebody who spent his life helping other people. Normally, he’d be the one going on the call to help.”

Former Chief Mike Morgan echoed Lamarche’s sentiments.

https://www.facebook.com/mike.morgan.5621149/posts/2076735762348968

“Prayers for his young family as well as his fire rescue family at WCFR,” Morgan wrote in a Facebook post. “I remember the times he would stop by my office always interested in gaining more knowledge of fire rescue.”

Berry leaves behind a wife and two young children.