By Greg Kendall Ball
The Abilene Reporter-News
EASTLAND COUNTY, Texas — An Eastland County volunteer firefighter may have been killed after being struck by a passing vehicle, a preliminary autopsy report released Sunday by the Tarrant Count medical examiner indicated.
According to Department of Public Safety spokesman Sparky Dean, the report stated that Gregory Mack Simmons, 50, died after he “suffered blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle.”
Dean said the vehicle Simmons was in was attempting to exit a pasture where Simmons and others were fighting a wildfire, but the gate to the field was blocked by other fire apparatus. Simmons reportedly exited his vehicle and went toward County Road 323. Dean said it was possible that Simmons ran onto or near the roadway, which was obscured by heavy smoke, and was struck by an unknown vehicle.
The death is being investigated as a pedestrian crash by the Texas Highway Patrol. A funeral service for Simmons will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Leon River Cowboy Church in Eastland. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Eastland ISD Scholarship Fund (P.O. Box 31, Eastland, TX 76448) or the Eastland Volunteer Fire Department (414 S. Seaman, Eastland, TX 76448).
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