Ramsey Mueller dreamed of saving others, but he couldn’t save himself.
A year ago, he took the first steps toward his lifelong dream of becoming a Tacoma firefighter. Seven months later, he died in his Tacoma home of a heroin overdose at the age of 27, a day after resigning from the department, two days after coming late to a morning shift, slurring his words and nearly hitting another vehicle while briefly taking the wheel of a firetruck.
His mother, Deputy Fire Chief Faith Mueller, a 24-year veteran of the department, found her son’s body — a moment of anguish underscored by prior loss. Both of her boys were gone. The oldest, Brandon, died in 2008 in a swimming accident.