Family, friends, and first repsonders from across the state packed a church in Weatherford Friday to pay tribute Richard "Andy" Loller Jr. -- a firefighter with the Weatherford Fire Department who died earlier this week while helping crews battle wildfires in West Texas.
The department said Loller, who spent 12 years with the Hudson Oaks Fire Department and four years with Weatherford, suffered a medical emergency while looking for hot spots in the Davis Mountains.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Ahead of his funeral service, attendees took part in a walking procession to North Side Baptist Church, accompanying his casket, which was draped in an American flag and carried on the top of a fire engine.
"We've prepared this program to further honor Andy, the Loller family, and the Weatherford Fire Department," said Chris Hale, Chaplain for the Texas Association of Firefighters, who spoke during the service. "We gather here as a community of friends, neighbors, brothers, and sisters to celebrate his life."
Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
"We are humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support," a family spokeswoman said in a city news release. "We ask for privacy during this time as we mourn the loss of a husband, father, son and brother."
