Brookston Fire Chief Michael Payne raced to the scene of a vehicle fire early Tuesday, helped extinguish the fire then collapsed from an apparent heart attack.
"We were out on a fire run. A semi was on fire on an exit ramp," Brookston Assistant Fire Chief Karl Stokes said, noting that the department was dispatched to the scene at 11:58 p.m. Monday.
Payne, 58, collapsed after the fire was out, Stokes said. Firefighters and Indiana State Troopers performed CPR at the scene. Paramedics rushed Payne to IU Health Arnett in Lafayette, where he died.
Sad news like this hits hard in this rural community of 1,500 people about two miles north of the Tippecanoe County line on Indiana 43.