It is clear based on numerous reports that firefighter Stan Wilson, who was killed fighting a fire Monday, will be missed by his family — two boys and a wife, Jenny — and friends in the department. Some had worked with him for 28 years.
Boy Scout Troop 890, based at Lake Highlands United Methodist Church, will also feel his absence deeply.
“There is a profound sense of loss among our scouting family,” says Lake Highlands resident Melissa Hood, who met Wilson, a Lake Highlands High School alumnus, when their sons joined the troop at the same time.
“Stan loved his boys dearly. He and Jenny have raised two of the finest young men I have ever known. Faith, family, and service to others were paramount in Stan’s life. He was an integral part of the adult leadership of Troop 890. He was a role model — admired, respected, and beloved by scouts and adults alike,” Melissa tells us.
Stan lived in the White Rock area and worked from Station 53 in the east Dallas area.
Monday’s fire near Richland College was so extreme that first responders had to call for backup. Aid came from as far as the Plano Fire Department.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Monday reportedly saved several people including a young boy before finding Wilson’s body beneath debris.
This is not this first fire at these apartments, located on Abrams just north of LBJ. The Dallas Morning News reported the following in today’s paper:
“The units at Hearthwood are individually owned and have been plagued in recent years by legal battles. The homeowners association there is in bankruptcy and in a dispute with several creditors over buildings damaged in two separate fires in 2009, bankruptcy records show.”
Officials are still trying to determine the cause of Monday’s inferno, which destroyed 24 homes and damaged several others.