Caddo Fire District 2 Chief Harry Lowery sat in his office today and reflected on the irony of his final words to volunteer fireman Eric Speed, who was killed this morning when his fire truck ran off the road and overturned as he headed to help another department fight a fire.
"My last words to him was to 'be safe,'" a somber Lowery said.
Speed, 33, was trapped in the wreckage of the water tanker for 45 minutes. He was airlifted to LSU Hospital in Shreveport but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The accident happened in a 90-degree curve of Shepherd Road between Shreveport and Blanchard.
Speed, a father of four, worked full-time at Wal-mart and had been a volunteer fireman for 12 years.
"To do that job for nothing takes an extra-special person," Lowery said. "He was a top-notch fireman. He would do the work of three, four firemen. He was always dependable; always here; always willing to step up to the plate.
"It's like losing a brother."
Caddo Parish sheriff's deputies said Speed was headed to assist a neighboring fire department with a mobile home fire when the wreck happened shortly before 10 a.m. The 3,000-gallon tanker struck a tree and came to rest on its side.
"The tanker landed in the ditch and the entire cab of the truck had a pretty good-sized pine tree in it," said Brian Crawford of the Shreveport Fire Department, one of the neighboring agencies that tried to save Speed.
The fire Speed was headed to caused heavy damage to the mobile home. One person was slightly injured.
;)
