Boston Firefighter Dies In Motorcycle Crash

BOSTON, MA – An active firefighter died earlier this week following an off-duty motorcycle crash, the Boston Fire Department announced Friday.

Firefighter Justin D. Poitras was involved in a crash on Tuesday and died on July 4, according to the Boston Fire Department. He was 31 years old.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with his family, friends, and the members of the Boston Fire Department as we mourn his loss,” the fire department said in an emailed statement to Patch.

Poitras joined the department in October 2016. He previously served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom and received an honorable discharge.

He was also a member of Crossfit Southie and folks remember him for always having a smile on his face and a word of encouragement. He was most recently stationed on Engine Company 42 at the Roxbury firehouse at 1870 Columbus Ave.

His brother Joshua is a firefighter in Lowell. He also leaves behind his parents Miriam and Mark Poitras.

Amy Gosler, who co-owns Crossfit Southie said a fellow firefighter let her and others at Crossfit know that he'd passed.

"We're just really devastated. He was here every day except when he was working his 24s," she said referring to his long shifts at the fire station.

He'd recently been on a fishing trip with his father.

"He was in the gym on Monday telling some of the members how he had caught this huge fish. He was just excited about little things like that," she said.

Gosler described him as goofy, and funny and laid back and always smiling.

"He was pretty much as good as it gets as a human being. He is extremely kind, and very generous. He just has a really kind soul, there's not a mean bone in his body," she told Patch in a phone interview.

She described him as approachable, and accepting and encouraging.

"He's was just a really good, really kind person. That's what makes the loss so much harder. I can't even think about a bad thing I could ever say about Justin. He was just a really good person who had really good intentions all the time."

Gosler said Poitras the tan, happy guy with tattoos and a heart of gold was in training to be a coach and was a member for years. In February a group of 20 or so Crossfitters had gone on a ski trip that brought them all even closer, she said.

Poitras also just really loved being a firefighter, she said. When he joined the department a year and a half ago it was a natural fit. "He really loved helping people and it just suited him so well. He was just so proud of that."

A GoFundMe has been set up in Poitras's name in an effort to help his family with funeral costs. As of Friday afternoon 48 people had donated $4,095 of the $15,000 goal. The post reads:

"A selfless hero who enjoyed fishing, going to the gym, and his new obsession ice cream. For someone so young, he accomplished a lot of things in his 30 years of life: traveled, lived in San Diego, deployed, graduated college with his bachelors in Exercise & Health Science, and became a firefighter in April 2017.Helping people was part of who he was, and would be the first person there if you needed him. He always looked for the best in people and wanted the best things out of life for them. He took care of everyone else before himself, especially family and close friends."

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File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff. Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna)