Firefighter Dies in Edgewater Fall While Off Duty

A 20-year veteran Anne Arundel County firefighter died this week after falling through a roof while working off-duty in Edgewater.

Kenneth Ladd, a shift lieutenant with the Riva Volunteer Fire Company, died Wednesday night, the department said on its Facebook page.

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Ladd, 44, fell through a roof while working at the Ace Home and Leisure at 89 W. Central Ave. in Edgewater about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. He reportedly fell about 20 feet through the roof of the business, the Capital-Gazette reports.

Ladd was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore on Wednesday with life-threatening head injuries. He later died from those injuries, the newspaper reports.

“It’s horrific,” Keith Whalen, president of the union that represents most of the county’s firefighters, told the newspaper.

Ladd is survived by a wife and two children, Whalen said.

The union website says Ladd will save lives even as his ended. “His life as a public servant had one last job. Kenny was an organ donor,” the website says. “Kenny was going to help save more lives just a couple more times. The process of harvesting organs is very complex and timely. Kenny was donating parts of his body to help save others. Kenny suffered severe head trauma from a long fall through a roof. This has left many of Kenny’s organs harvest-able and healthy.”

The firefighters union is establishing a memorial fund for Ladd’s family, Whalen said. Donations can be sent to “The Kenny Ladd Memorial Fund, c/o Navy Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 3100, Merrifield, VA, 22119.” Or donate online to the fund; all donations will go to Ladd’s family, organizers say.

»Lt. Kenneth Ladd, with the Riva Volunteer Fire Company, from the Anne Arundel County Professional Fire Fighters’ website