COLFAX, Wash. (AP) — The longtime chief of the Colfax, Washington, fire department died from an apparent heart attack while fighting a wildfire over the weekend.
Chief Jim Krouse died Saturday afternoon. Krouse, who served as a volunteer firefighter in Colfax for 52 years — 40 of them as chief — was responding to a fire about 3 p.m. when he collapsed while pulling hose.
The department said in a statement that Colfax ambulance responded and provided emergency care for Krouse, who was then taken to a hospital.