BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — For the first time in its 70-year history, the Third District Volunteer Fire Company, Station 14, has lost a firefighter in the line of duty.
Ed Margavich, who previously served as chief and was most recently the company’s fire police captain, died from injuries sustained on Aug. 8 during a house fire in Croydon, WPVI reported.
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Authorities allege the blaze, which destroyed a van and a home and damaged a neighboring residence, was intentionally set. Five adults asleep inside the home were rescued, and three firefighters suffered minor injuries, according to a report from the Bucks County Courier Times.
While directing traffic at the scene, Margavich returned to the Croydon Volunteer Fire Station to retrieve additional equipment. There, he tripped and fell, breaking his thigh bone in two places, Third District Fire Chief Howard McGoldrick — who is also Margavich’s nephew — told the Courier Times. Despite undergoing emergency surgery, his condition worsened, and he died Aug. 15 of a complication related to the injury.
He was a life member of the Third District Fire Company, Goodwill Hose Fire Company, the Bucks County Fire Police Association and the Bristol Township Fire Police Association. According to the fire company, he also served as a fire police officer with the Bristol Township Police Department, FOX 29 reported.
Margavich joined the fire service at age 16 and served as Third District’s chief for a year in 1978, according to the Courier Times. Over nearly 65 years, he remained deeply involved, directing traffic at fire scenes as a fire police officer well into his 80s. Even after stepping back from driving firetrucks about a decade ago, he continued to respond regularly to calls, often in the middle of the night.
