East Olympia firefighter remembered as devoted volunteer

A longtime volunteer with East Olympia Fire District 6 who suffered a medical emergency while responding to a fire Friday is being remembered as a devoted firefighter.

John Ostergard was a volunteer fire captain and president of the Washington State Fire Fighters’ Association. He was a volunteer firefighter with East Olympia for 27 years, said Chief Warren Peterson.

“It was an honor to have him as a member of our district,” Peterson said. “His love for the fire service and for helping the community was enormous.”

Ostergard was on the scene of a structure fire Friday night south of Yelm when he suffered a medical emergency and was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.

The firefighters association paid tribute to Ostergard on its website.

“With profound sadness we announce the line-of-duty death of our friend and brother,” it said. “Rest easy, Cap. We’ll take it from here.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 5:13 PM.