JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Friday, members of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue honored one of their own who died on the job Thursday while trying to rescue a driver involved in a crash.
JFRD is mourning 36-year-old firefighter Mike Freeland, who died in the hospital Thursday after he collapsed while trying to rescue the driver of a U-Haul truck that hit a utility pole.
Dozens of firefighters lined up to pay their respects Friday afternoon as Freeland’s body was escorted from the medical examiner’s office to a funeral home on Soutel Drive. At least 100 first responders and members of the community paid their respects.
“We lost a good one,” said Vicky Obamwonyi, a friend. “We hurt. We hurt.”
Friends who lined the route included a “Jeep Mob” that Freeland called family. They said Freeland was especially passionate about giving back to the community.
Complete strangers were also there paying their respects, like Maggie Davis and her two sons.
“As we were coming home from picking them up from school we noticed the procession,” Davis said.
An honor guard remains with Freeland’s body. A spokesperson with the fire department said it’s a tradition to have a fellow service member or service members stay with a fallen colleague until they can be laid to rest. He says they’re a family at JFRD and they don’t want to leave a fallen firefighter alone.
(Click photo below to watch uncut video from procession)
Freeland’s aunt, Hazel Yates-Campbell, said he was just a nice person who would always be there for you. She said he was engaged to be married and loved being a firefighter.
She said their family was in disbelief when they got the news of his passing Thursday.
“It is a sudden loss. We’re still in shock,” Yates-Campbell said. “Mike was a very very genuinely nice person. He loved everybody. He had the biggest smile all the time. I’ve never seen him when he wasn’t happy, cordial, smiling or trying to make somebody else happy.”
She said he was the kind of person who always had your back.
“People just genuinely loved being around him because of his energy,” Yates-Campbell said.
At Fire Station 73, where Freeland worked as an engineer, the flag stands at half-staff.
“It’s a real loss to the department for that kind of guy that he was,” said Randy Wyse, president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters. “Always a smile on his face, very energetic, hard worker. Worked constantly and again, it’s somebody we will truly miss.”
The chief said Freeland was an energetic member of the department who had been with JFRD for 7½ years -- the last couple as an engineer.
The chief said he was trying to pull someone out through the back of a U-Haul that had crashed into a power pole when Freeland stepped out of the back of the truck and collapsed. The fire department is still waiting for the medical examiner to release information about how Freeland died. This is the third line of duty death JFRD has suffered since June.
Condolences have spread all over social media. People have changed their profile pictures in Freeland’s memory. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry tweeted:
“My thoughts and prayers are with @TheJFRD Fire Fighter Mike Freeland, his family & his brothers and sisters with the department. My family and I are praying for you in this difficult time. Mike, thank you for your service to the @cityofjax. May you Rest In Peace”
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office calls-for-service page shows the crash happened at 12:39 a.m. at Aviation Avenue and Lake Newman Street -- near Cecil Commerce Center.
JFRD spokesman Eric Proswimmer said Freeland was working with firefighters at the scene “involving a prolonged extrication.” JFRD Chief Keith Powers said firefighters had been working for almost 30 minutes to free the driver of the crashed truck.
Powers said Freeland was in the back of the U-Haul truck trying to find another way into the cab when he stepped out and collapsed. His fellow firefighters provided advanced life-saving care and he was rushed to UF Health Jacksonville, where they said he died just after 2 a.m.
Powers said there was some speculation there was a wire down from the utility pole was on the ground nearby, “but until the medical examiner tells us that, we don’t know for sure.”
The three JFRD line-of-duty deaths this year were the first the department has suffered since 2018.
Capt. Thomas Barber, who served the department for 21 years and was 51 years old, died from a heart attack in June within hours of completing his shift. Lt. Mario Moya, who died with COVID in August, had been with JFRD for 17 years. He was also 51.