The Madison Fire Department has a hole where firefighter Todd Mahoney should be, said Fire Chief Steven Davis.
"I think the whole organization is really hurting," Davis said. “He'll leave a big hole."
Mahoney was competing Sunday in the swimming portion of the half-Ironman 70.3-mile triathlon race when a kayak safety team member found him unresponsive in the lake. Davis said he was brought to shore, where firefighters and paramedics from his own department resuscitated him.
"We respond to emergencies, so we’re used to seeing really, really bad things throughout the community. We can never prepare or be ready to respond to one of our own," said Fire Fighters Local 311 President Mahlon Mitchell during a joint news conference Wednesday afternoon.