SPOKANE, Wash. — Colleagues and friends are remembering an off-duty firefighter who died after being hit by a car while walking near his home Thursday night.
KHQ.com reported that firefighter Andrew Miller, 27, with the Vancouver (Wash.) Fire Department, was treated at the scene by crews at his department and paramedics with AMR before being transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died from those injuries around midnight Thursday.
“He was a good role model. He was fun to be around. We fought like siblings. As siblings do. Everybody loved to be around him,” Trevor Miller, Andrew’s younger brother, said. “A marked fire rescue SUV came up so I came out to see what was going on and stepped out and they informed me he had been killed. At 2 in the morning it’s kind of a shock.”
Andrew was a Boy Scout, Eagle Scout and a hard worker, according to his family. Trevor said as soon as Andrew set his sights on being a firefighter, he did whatever it took.
“He was working two to three jobs at a time to put himself through school to be a firefighter,” he said.
Andrew was a volunteer firefighter with Spokane County Fire District 10 and later got a job in Vancouver.
“Anytime we lose a member of the Vancouver Fire Department family, it’s hard on all of us,” Fire Chief Joe Molina said. “Especially because the nature of our job, we’re the ones who respond to the call. It’s very difficult for the on-duty crews.”
Vancouver Fire Department spokesman Joe Spatz called Miller one of the department’s best firefighters.
“It’s a big deal for a young firefighter to even get a temporary spot,” Spatz said. “It’s very sad that he doesn’t get to complete that year three.”
Spatz said Miller worked well with paramedics while on medical calls, was an aggressive firefighter and had the kind of attention to detail a good firefighter needs.
“We are proud of Andrew and all that he accomplished,” Chief Molina said. “The news is a tremendous loss to both Andrew’s family and the Vancouver Fire Department family.”
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Vancouver Firefighter’s Community Assistance Fund.