Volunteer firefighter, 18, dies in accident at day job

A teenage volunteer firefighter with the Oxford and Coralville fire departments died Monday while working at his day job, leaving a tight-knit community mourning the loss of a “very very hard worker and a very very good kid,” fellow firefighters said.

Walker Olson, 18, of Oxford, died Monday from injuries he received while working near Frytown, according to information submitted to The Gazette (obituary, 11A).

John Lovetinsky, a longtime firefighter in Oxford who worked with Olson, said he died while working for the Consumer's Cooperative Society, which has a grain elevator in Frytown. Officials with the cooperative didn't return a call from The Gazette on Tuesday, and Lovetinsky said he didn't know the details of Olson's death.

“This is a huge loss,” Lovetinsky said. “You don't have kids like him come along very often. It's going to be tough.”

Olson, who graduated from Clear Creek Amana High School last year and had received his national firefighting certification, started at the Oxford Fire Department as a junior fireman a couple years ago, Lovetinsky said. When he turned 18, he was allowed to become a full volunteer member.

Lovetinsky said he and his colleagues were impressed that Olson had received his national certification at such a young age, and he believed Olson had what it took to become a leader in the field.

“To do that at that age is just remarkable,” Lovetinsky said. “For those of us who have been firemen a long time, it was something that took us a lot longer.”

Lovetinsky said many people in the Oxford community knew Olson for his strong work ethic.

“He was a hard worker - he mowed yards around his hometown, he was not your stereotypical kid,” he said. “It's normal for kids to want to be a part of the Fire Department because it's exciting for them when they're that young. But it's abnormal for a kid of his age to have this type of work ethic and drive to learn.”

Lovetinsky said the Oxford Fire Department has a generation of older firefighters and then a younger group. He said many of the other younger members could have learned a great deal from Olson.

“Lots of the young kids don't have much of a work ethic,” he said. “But Walker was not like the other kids. He was a go-getter. I knew that if I was doing something on a fire and needed help, I could call on him and he was going to give me everything he had.”

Coralville Fire Chief Dave Stannard also confirmed Olson's death on Monday, although he didn't have details of how he died. Stannard said Olson had been working with the Coralville department for about a year.

“He was around our station in and out almost every day,” he said. “He's in here a lot.”

Olson worked weekly with the Coralville department while going through training and then became a full member of the department.

“He was a good asset to us,” he said.