Fire and rescue personnel in Washington County, MD are mourning the loss of a local volunteer fire chief and career firefighter killed in an off-duty wreck Monday morning.
Maryland State Police reported they found a truck had struck a utility pole on U.S. 40, and Clear Spring Chief Zachary Reid, 32, was unconscious. He was rushed to Meritus Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, DC News Now reported.
Reid was driving a 2013 Ford F650 with a rollback when the crash occurred.
News of the chief's death spread fast in the area.
This was the post on the Clear Spring Volunteer Fire Company's Facebook page:
"THIS IS THE HARDEST NOTIFICATION IVE EVER HAD TO MAKE! IT IS WITH A COMPLETELY BROKEN HEART THAT I ANNOUNCE THE DEATH OF MY SON FIRE CHIEF ZACHARY REID WHO DIED THIS MORNING FROM INJURIES SUFFERED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. PLEASE KEEP TAYLOR AND THOSE THREE PRECIOUS GIRLS IN YOUR THOUGHTS. ASST. CHIEF JACOB ALTMAN AND FF RICHARD CONRAD ARE THE FAMILY POINT OF CONTACT. THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY’S SUPPORT. CAPTAIN MICHAEL REID"
Reid joined his local fire department in 2007 to follow in his father's boot prints, and quickly rose through the ranks to become an officer. In 2021, he was elected chief.
For the past eight years, he was a firefighter/fire apparatus operator in Hagerstown Fire Department.
Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr said: “Our sincere, heartfelt sympathies and prayers are extended to the Reid family, the Clear Spring Volunteer Fire Department, as well as his friends and colleagues throughout the fire service..."
Maryland State Police at Barracks O in Hagerstown also expressed condolences to the fire departments and family.
Funeral arrangements have not been made.
