A longtime former Wilmington-area firefighter died Tuesday in a car crash in Pender County.
Michael Lee Garner, 67, was a lifelong Wilmington resident who served the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department and Seagate Volunteer Fire Department for many years, according to an obituary posted on the Wilmington Funeral and Cremation website.
Garner was traveling westbound on N.C. 210 near Montague Road around noon Tuesday when the pickup truck he was driving crossed the center line and collided head-on with an 18-wheeled gravel transport truck that was traveling east, according to an N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper C. Gall. Both the pickup truck and the 18-wheeler entered the ditch following the crash. Garner was pronounced dead at the scene and the other driver suffered minor injuries. The stretch of highway from Montague Road to U.S. 421 was shut down for approximately five-to-six hours to clean up the scene.