Nearly 11 years after a St. Augustine firefighter was caught in a massive explosion at a gas station fire, Michael Riley passed away.
Riley, 61, responded to the August 2011 fire at a gas station where a storage tank overflowed and, vapors from a delivery truck ignited the explosion.
“We were absolutely covered in fuel,” Chance Hines told news4jax.com. “To see men like Mike Riley, standing there, trying to protect the community was amazing.”
Hines lost hearing in one ear from the force of the blast.
About six years ago, Riley's health took a downturn and was unable to with without assistance.
He was diagnosed with Parkinsonism, Alzheimer's and encephalopathy and Parkinsonism and he had trouble speaking.
Last year, Riley filed a lawsuit that they lost against the gas station, the truck driver and the fire department.
Lani, Riley's wife, is working on a soon to be released documentary, “Behind the Smoke” about the dangers of smoke for firefighters.
