Posted on
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
2 East Texas Firefighters Die in Line of Duty
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Both men had a passion for helping others and both men died in the line of duty.
Pickton-Pine Forest firefighter Joe Pat Jordan, 71, and Teague Fire Chief Robert Knight, 42, died over the holiday weekend as they did the jobs they had performed for years.
Pickton Fire Chief Mark Sustaire said Jordan, who started the department in 1976, suffered a fatal heart attack while en route to a car accident Friday afternoon.
“He would pick and choose the calls he responded to in the past few years and usually didn’t go on a minor accident like this, but for whatever reason he decided to go this time,” he said.
Sustaire said Jordan was the department’s fix-it guy who loved tinkering with the equipment and who was loved by all who knew him.
Robert Knight
He added that Jordan was remembered during a service in which the Grapevine Fire Department’s Honor Guard and departments from across the region were represented.
“We’re pulling together as a family, but we are all missing him. His family and this department are intertwined so we are all just trying to help each other with this. His absence will definitely be felt,” he said.
Several counties away, in the small city of Teague, a community mourns the loss of its fire chief.
Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Jay Evans said Knight died Saturday night as a result of injuries he sustained in a warehouse fire in Teague.
Evans said Knight was standing on the curb outside of the building when a brick wall collapsed, crushing the man.
Evans said the building, which was built in the 1920s, became an inferno and the materials inside only helped to fuel the blaze.
“It housed both an upholstery shop and a body shop and you can imagine the heat that was generated in there,” he said.
Evans said the wall gave way after several large wooded trusses burned into. However, he added there was no warning that the wall would collapse.
“There were no indications that the wall would fall,” he said.
Evans said Knight was flown to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler where he later died.
“He was known by everyone in a four county area and he accomplished a lot in his eight years as chief of the department,” he said.
Evans said Knight had been with the department for 18 years.
“He was just a great guy and his death has had an impact on this community,” he said.
Knight will be laid to rest today in a ceremony with full honors.
Evans said the investigation into the cause of the fire could take months.
“We do not have a cause at this time and it could be several months before we have a chance to get the physical evidence back and interview everyone who was at the fire,” he said.
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