In a tradition as old as the service, firefighters from Lynden and around Whatcom County are standing vigil over the body of Lynden interim Fire Chief Robert Spinner, who died Friday of an apparent heart attack while on duty.
It is the first line of duty death in the Lynden Fire Department’s 107-year history, according to a statement issued late Sunday, and the second on-duty firefighter death in Whatcom County – the other line of duty firefighter death was in March 1950, when Whatcom County Fire District 7’s Chief Clyde Eaton suffered fatal burns as a barrel of fuel exploded at a fire.
Spinner, 50, was running as part of his daily fitness regimen when he was stricken.