YOUNGSVILLE, N.C. — Assistant Fire Chief Jeffrey Lee Fields, 51, died on Christmas after having a heart attack within 24 hours of responding to a motor vehicle accident earlier in December, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
A member of the Youngsville (N.C.) Volunteer Fire Department, Chief Fields went into cardiac arrest on Dec. 12. He remained in the hospital and underwent heart bypass surgery on Dec. 17. He returned home on Dec. 23 and died two days later.
He was a 30-year veteran of the Youngsville department.
Fields’ death makes 101 firefighter fatalities reported to the USFA in 2013.