Menard Volunteer Fire Department

10/14/2026

October 11, 2026 - LODD
Firefighter Rick Joseph Fuentes, 26
Buckholts Volunteer Fire Department. Buckholts, TX
Firefighter Fuentes was driving the Buckholts Volunteer Fire Department truck as they were responding to a vehicle and grass fire in the 13000 block of Wood Road in Holland. The fire truck left the roadway near the 7300 block of Farm to Market Road 437 and rolled over. Firefighter Fuentes sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

10/11/2026

In Memoriam: October 11, 2021 - LODD
Engine Boss Layla Bradley, 29
Dragon Fighters Inc. Clark, WY
Engine Boss Bradley was dispatched from her base in Wyoming to the Inyo National Forest near Bishop, California, on Sept. 26, 2021. She and her crew worked in the area, and she developed shortness of breath and congestion. On Oct. 8, 2021, she visited an urgent care clinic and was prescribed medications for her illness. On Oct. 11, 2021, she and her crew were working in the field and were directed to a local fire station around noon to shelter from inclement weather. At approximately 3:00 p.m. that day, Engine Boss Bradley was discovered unresponsive in the fire station. She was treated and transported but did not recover.

10/11/2026

10/10/2026

September 29, 2026 - LODD
Assistant Chief Richard Alan “Bubba” Wright, age 48
Eagle Rock Volunteer Fire Department. Eagle Rock, VA
Chief Wright was critically injured while serving his community during a swift water rescue incident in June of 2016. Since that time he was lovingly cared for by his wife, Dawn. Chief Wright was attempting to help rescue a family during extreme flooding in Alleghany County. As a member of the Eagle Rock Volunteer Fire Department’s Swift Water Rescue Team, Wright and fellow team members Chris Keyser and Travis Smith were navigating the flooded stream when a submerged object struck them and the rushing water pulled them under. Wright went into cardiac arrest, was resuscitated, stabilized and transferred to a Roanoke hospital where it was determined he suffered a traumatic brain injury that impacted his ability to move and speak. He later continued rehabilitation at home until his passing on September 29, 2026.

10/09/2026

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

End of Watch — Trooper Bradley Ritger, Wisconsin State Patrol.

Friday, October 2, 2026. Twenty-nine years old. Nearly five years in the Northwest Region, mostly Dunn County. 67th Recruit Class. Instructor. Mobile field force. Three years with the Department of Corrections before the patrol.

Injured September 21 while working a pursuit on I-94 at the Dunn and Eau Claire county line. He did not make it home.

Rest easy, Trooper. Your family and that region carried the weight of those two weeks. The job knows the cost.

10/02/2026