BEAUMONT, Texas — Firefighters with two Liberty County volunteer fire departments are mourning the sudden loss of a fellow firefighter this week.
Devin Ray Whiteley, 40, of Daisetta, collapsed while working at the Hull-Daisetta Volunteer Fire Department station in Daisetta on Tuesday according to longtime friend and Woodville Fire Chief Alan Gartner.
Whiteley’s fellow firefighters immediately began administering aid to him but he was later pronounced dead according to Gartner who is also former member of the department in Hull-Daisetta.
Whitley, who had been a firefighter for 24 years, made his last call out, a medical call, with the department less than 24 hours before he died according to Gartner.
He was a member of both the Hull-Daisetta and Devers Volunteer Fire Departments.
"The fire department was his family," Gartner said of the man he'd known since he was a teen adding that Whiteley was single and had no children.
On Friday morning a procession of fire trucks and other Liberty County first responders escorted the hearse as it brought Whitley from the morgue in Beaumont to the Faith and Family Funeral Home in Batson.
Hull-Daisetta volunteer firefighters remember fallen fireman
Residents lined road along FM 770 in Daisetta near the fire station as the procession of fire trucks stopped in front of the station.
Whiteley’s fellow firefighters then placed a wreath at the base of the flagpole where his protective gear from both the Devers and Hull-Daisetta VFD have been on display since he died. They then observed a moment of silence before continuing on to the funeral home.
A memorial gathering will be held for Whiteley on Saturday, January 16, from 5 p.m. through 9 p.m at the Hull Daisetta Volunteer Fire Department in Daisetta.
Funeral services for Whiteley will be held Sunday, January 17, at Life Point Church in Daisetta with interment to follow at Guedry Cemetery in Batson.
