A veteran firefighter with the Orange Rural Fire Department died at the main station in downtown Hillsborough on Monday after helping to rescue a person trapped in a trench.
Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens identified the firefighter as Assistant Chief Jeff Holden, who had been with the department since 2001. The Hillsborough Town Board held a moment of silence Monday night for Holden.
Holden, 32, was found unresponsive at the station at about 1:30 p.m. following the call. Neither the crew on shift nor emergency workers who arrived could revive him. “We are devastated,” Orange Rural Fire Chief Jeff Cabe said in a news release from Hillsborough town government.