Though they routinely confront mortality on the job, Marietta firefighters were struggling Tuesday to deal with the death of one of their own.
The circumstances surrounding 23-year-old Ron Herens death made it all the more difficult.
“All the wind is knocked out of us now,” Marietta Fire Department Chief Jackie Gibbs told reporters. Just a few hours earlier, Gibbs had learned Herens was killed in a violent car crash in Los Angeles.
Herens was vacationing with two other Marietta firefighters, Dillon Guest and Doug Blanchard, who sustained non-life threatening injuries when they were T-boned by a suspected drunk driver at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Washington Boulevard near Marina Del Rey.
Herens, sitting in the back, seat belt buckled, was nonetheless ejected from the vehicle. He died at the scene. Los Angeles police took the unidentified DUI suspect into custody.
“Ron was always smiling and always had a twinkle in his eye. His smile was a little mischievous,” said Gibbs, fighting back tears. “He was fun to be around, fun at the fire station. Everyone here thought the best of Ron Herens.”
Firefighters were too broken up to discuss the loss of their colleague and friend, said a Marietta Fire Department spokeswoman. Some took to social media to remember Herens, whose body was escorted by Los Angeles police and firefighter vehicles away from the scene of the crash.
“Sad day in Cobb County,” wrote Sean Gray, a lieutenant at Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services. “Tragic loss. Great guy, eager to learn his job. God speed brother.”
Gray said he first met Herens through Cobb Fire Explorers, a program for kids as young at 14 years old who have an interest in a career in firefighting.
Herens was the first Explorer to get a full-time job with the Marietta Fire Department. He was just 19 when he was hired.
“My heart is so heavy knowing I was just talking to you at the gym a few days ago,” friend Kati Townsend, of Powder Springs, wrote on Facebook. “I was incredibly blessed to have you as a friend for all these years. You were one of the sweetest guys and full of laughter and love. You will never be forgotten sweet Ron.”
Funeral arrangements had not yet been announced as of Tuesday evening.
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