Farmland community mourns the loss of volunteer firefighter

FARMLAND, Ind. (WPTA) - Tragedy in the small town of Farmland, after 29-year-old Kyle Osgood, a volunteer firefighter, died in a crash Thursday morning.

BACKGROUND: One volunteer firefighter killed, second injured in Farmland crash

“Life’s pretty busy but when something like this happens, people stop and want to pay respects,” Indiana State Fire Marshall Steve Jones said.

The death of the first responder sent shockwaves through the community.

“It’s kind of hard to believe,” Chelsey Sullivan said. “He’s just a great guy, he has a little boy who’s just over one and a half.”

Chelsey Sullivan lives in Farmland and is friends with Osgood’s wife.

She says she’s had a hard time believing the news and it’s left her thinking, not only about the dangers of being a firefighter, but the importance of those who do it as volunteers.

“They just do it because they love this community and want to be here for people,” Sullivan said. “He puts his life on the line when he goes when he goes on a fire run and is there to be a hero and you don’t think of something like this happening when he’s trying to go out and help someone else.”

Osgood wasn’t the only one injured in the crash.

19-year-old Zachary Lee, a fellow volunteer firefighter, was critically injured and flown from the crash to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.

Jones says Lee is now stable, but that the firefighter in the community are heartbroken.

“It’s very devastating,” Jones said. “They’re numb, because this is not the day that we thought we were all going to have today.”

As the American flag outside the fire station lowered to half-staff, Jones says it’s a loss and a sadness that can only be fixed with time.

“It’s going to take quite a while for it to set in about what’s really taken place today and come to grips with it,” Jones said.

Jones adds that a crisis intervention team, along with other firefighters, will be there for the family to help with the grief of their tragic loss.

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