Firefighter Record
Firefighter Details
| Name | Bruce Spaulding |
| Agency | Bourbonnais Fire Protection District |
| Rank | Firefighter |
| Type of Firefighter | Paid-On-Call (POC) |
| Age Range | 46 to 50 |
| Sex | Male |
| Date of Birth | 8/7/1953 |
| Date of Death | 4/26/2003 |
| Cause of Death | Fall |
| Nature of Death | Trauma |
| Attribute of Death | [not applicable] |
| Type of Duty | Firehouse duties |
Incident Details
| Incident Name | N/A |
| Incident City | Bourbonnais |
| Incident State | IL |
| Incident Date | 4/26/2003 8:40 |
| Incident Location | Firehouse |
| Incident Attribute | Firehouse accidents |
Incident Summary
On Saturday, April 26, 2003, Bruce Spaulding was injured while on-duty for the Bourbonnais Fire Protection District. He died later that day at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. Spaulding was mowing the fire station’s lawn on a riding mower when the mower hit a retaining wall. Spaulding was thrown off of the mower and tumbled into a ditch where he suffered fatal injuries.
A native of Bourbonnais, Spaulding had served for 21 years with the Bradley Fire Department, before an injury forced him into early retirement. In 1994, he started the Fire/Rescue training program at the Kankakee Area Career Center, and he spent the next decade training and mentoring young firefighters. He remained a part of the cadet program for the Bradley Fire Department, and he joined the Bourbonnais Fire Protection District as Cadet Advisor in January 2000. In January 2002, his injury had improved enough that his doctors lifted their original restrictions, allowing him to return to firefighting as a paid-on call firefighter with the Bourbonnais Fire Protection District.
Citations:
Maria Waickowski, “Mower Accident Claims Illinois Firefighter,” Firehouse.com News, April 29, 2003.
Firefighter and Incident Images
