Paulding Firefighter Suffers Heart Attack While Battling Blaze (ICYMI)

HIRAM, GA — A Paulding County firefighter suffered a heart attack while battling a blaze in Hiram Thursday night, officials say.

Sgt. Kevin Van Dyke was hit with the heart attack, fell unconscious and stopped breathing at about 9:14 p.m. Friday, said Paulding County Fire & Rescue spokesman Lt. Steve Mapes. His fellow firefighters established that he still had a pulse and began giving Van Dyke CPR.

A defibrillator was used to shock Van Dyke's heart back into a normal rhythm, Mapes said. He was taken to Paulding Hospital, where he was stabilized, then to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.

Early Friday morning, Van Dyke was in the hospital's intensive care unit, where he was in critical but stable condition.

Firefighters had been called at 8:41 p.m. to reports of a tractor-trailer on fire at 3807 Atlanta Hwy. in Hiram. Callers to 911 said there were placards on the truck saying that it was carrying flammable liquids.

Firefighters, including Van Dyke's Engine 1 team, discovered the truck heavily engulfed in flames.
Van Dyke, 41, is a 10-year veteran of Paulding County Fire & Rescue. He is assigned to Fire Station #1 on Thomas B. Murphy Drive in Dallas.

"The family has asked for prayers and that all inquiries be directed to the Department’s Public Affairs office," Mapes said.

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Photo courtesy Paulding County Fire & Rescue