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Canadian firefighter dies days after collapsing at scene

Firefighter Brian Smyth, 57, suffered a heart attack while fighting a house fire and later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital

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Photo courtesy Fraser Valley Regional District

The Province

BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada — Volunteer firefighter Brian Smyth was always the last to leave, always thinking of others.

As firefighters prepare to gather Monday in Victoria to remember their fallen comrades, Smyth’s giving spirit is being heralded by members of the Columbia Valley Volunteer Fire Department. “I have known Brian for over 40 years,” said a grief-stricken Fire Chief Mike Soth. “We grew up together and went to school together. We’re family at the fire hall, and Brian was a part of that family.”

But that family is now minus a 57-year-old member, after Smyth suffered a heart attack while fighting a Cultus Lake house fire on March 4, and later succumbed in hospital.

Full story: Volunteer firefighter Brian Smyth, who died after fighting Cultus Lake fire, was ‘a very giving person’