By FireRescue1 Staff
WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — A firefighter-paramedic was killed and a nurse was seriously injured in a vehicle crash Sunday morning.
Life Flight paramedic Tyson Mason, 29, who was also a firefighter-paramedic with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, and a nurse were returning to Salt Lake City after a shift when the vehicle they were in was struck head-on by a pickup truck, reported FOX13.
Members of the Life Flight team responded to the crash; the nurse was airlifted to the hospital.
“They were the first on site, and as you can imagine, it was a shock to know that two members of the team — their colleagues, their family members so-to-speak — were involved in that serious car accident,” Jess Gomez, spokesman for Intermountain Life Flight, said.
Salt Lake City Fire Department Chief Karl Lieb said they are mourning the loss of Mason, who became a father for the first time last week.
“Tyson was a young, professional firefighter and a talented paramedic,” Chief Lieb said. “He was a devoted husband, who just became a father for the first time, only one week ago. He was respected by his brothers and sisters in the fire service and will be sorely missed.”
Before joining the Salt Lake City Fire Department in 2015, Mason was a member of the Ogden Fire Department, according to the report. He’s survived by his wife, Haileigh, and their one-week-old son.
Gomez said the nurse, who has not yet been identified, is said to be in serious condition but is doing “relatively OK.”
“This is a tragedy to lose a member of the Intermountain Healthcare and Life Flight family,” Gomez said. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their family, friends and colleagues for this devastating loss.”