Dagsboro junior firefighter Justin Townsend dies in crash

The Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department is mourning the loss of one of its junior firefighters, Justin Townsend, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident Sept. 27 while responding to a woods fire. The loss is the first line-of-duty death for the Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department in its 69-year history.

At approximately 5:12 p.m., the Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched for an outside fire in a wooded area on East Clogg Drive just outside town limits. Officials said while enroute to Station 73 in a personal vehicle, Townsend, 17,  died in a motor vehicle crash on Pepper Road, in the area of Jay Patch Road, said public information officer Matt Gajdos.

No details of the accident are available at this time. The Delaware State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit is conducting an investigation and will release further details.

The Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department is currently out of service. All emergency calls in the Dagsboro fire district will be answered by neighboring fire departments that are standing by at Station 73.

During a Sept. 28 press conference, Gajdos tried to put into words what the department is going through.

“Words cannot begin to adequately portray the tremendous sorrow this small, tight-knit fire company and the community it serves is feeling in the wake of this loss,” he said. “The brave men and women who serve in this department have lost one of their brothers. While losing a member is something every fire department hopes never happens, the reality is that it can happen – and it has happened right here in tiny Dagsboro. Our fire company now joins a select group of departments that has lost a member in service to his community, and we now must work through the grieving process as we honor a life cut too short.”

Townsend had been a member of the department for one year, had completed training to be an interior firefighter and was scheduled to be voted into senior membership next month. The Sussex Tech High School junior was involved in auto mechanics courses. “He liked to help people. He was a very good guy with so much to offer, and I know it was that desire to help people that led Justin to the fire service,” Gajdos said.

Viewings are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department, 31818 Waples St., Dagsboro, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at Indian River High School auditorium on Armory Road, Dagsboro. A firefighter’s funeral will start immediately following the Oct. 6 viewing. The procession will go from the Indian River High School to Redman’s Cemetery on Iron Branch Road. Refreshments will follow at the Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department.

The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department in memory of Justin Townsend. Updates will be posted on the department's website at www.dasgsborovfd.com.