Safety & Health

Driver Found Guilty in 2018 Crash that Killed VA Firefighter

Sept. 30, 2020

Lt. Brad Clark, a 13-year veteran with the Hanover County Fire-EMS Department, was killed after Lester Labarge lost control of his tractor-trailer in poor weather and struck Clark's apparatus.

Source Firehouse.com News

Hanover County, VA, Fire & EMS Lt. Brad Clark.

A Maryland man was convicted Wednesday in connection with a 2018 crash involving a fire apparatus that killed a veteran Virginia firefighter.

Lester Labarge was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving stemming from an Oct. 11, 2018 accident during Tropical Storm Michael, WWBT-TV reports. Labarge lost control of his tractor-trailer in the poor weather conditions, and he collided with a Hanover County fire apparatus, killing Lt. Brad Clark.

RELATED: VA Lieutenant Killed in Apparatus Wreck

Clark, 43, had been part of the response for a two-vehicle accident when Labarge's tractor-trailer slammed into the engine. The 13-year veteran with the department died at the scene, and the crash also seriously injured two other firefighters.

Labarge, 51, had to be extricated from the cab of his vehicle and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. He was initially charged with reckless driving and cited for defective brakes but was later indicted by the Hanover Circuit Court on an involuntary manslaughter charge, according to WWBT.