GHENT, N.Y. - Authorities say a volunteer firefighter has died after his pickup truck crashed into a utility pole as he responded to an emergency call in a Hudson Valley town.
Columbia County Sheriff David Harrison Jr. says 52-year-old William Akin was headed to the scene of a traffic accident around 9:10 p.m. Tuesday when his pickup slammed into a utility pole on Route 66 in the town of Ghent, 25 miles southeast of Albany.
Harrison says Akin was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Akin was a volunteer with the Ghent Fire Company.
My Opinon
This is a tragic story. One that hopefully won't be repeated but probably will. All too often volunteer firefighters responding in their personal vehicles die or become injured from injuries going to a call. Whether or not they have lights or sirens, doesn't seem to make a difference, it mostly seems to be excessive speed. We all want to make it to the call, but sometimes we don't think about the sacrifice we're making by speeding to get there. This is why we have fire apparatus. I'm not saying he was speeding, but it tends to be a going trend among us volunteers. My heart goes out to those affected by this incident, and hopefully we all learn from this.
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