A flag outside the Mineral Point Fire Department is displayed at half-staff after a crash killed two Mineral Point firefighters early Thursday.
According to the Wisconsin State Firefighters and EMS Memorial website, three firefighters died in 2020, three in 2019 and six in 2018. Deaths that year included Capt. Cory Barr of Sun Prairie, who died in a downtown explosion, and Richard Garner, 29, a Madison Fire Department firefighter and paramedic who collapsed suddenly and died shortly after his shift ended.
Department veterans
One of the Mineral Point firefighters who died had been with the department since 1984, the other since 1997. A family member of one of the men declined to speak with a reporter Thursday. Family for the other firefighter could not be reached. The department has about 40 members.
“Both of them were just huge assets to the department,” Marr said. “They’re down here all of the time doing their due diligence not only for the whole department but for the whole community.”
One of those who came Thursday to assist Marr was Chad Grossen, deputy chief of operations for the Fitchburg Fire Department, who has known Marr for three decades.
“We want to make sure we’re taking care of each other,” said Grossen. “This is devastating. You can never plan for this stuff.”
