BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va. (WYMT/WVVA) - One Virginia Division of Forestry (VDOF) firefighter is dead following an incident in Southwest Virginia.
Officials with VDOF say Rocky Wood was killed Thursday while fighting a wildfire along Lester’s Fork Road in Buchanan County.
Wood was a seven-year veteran of the forestry service based out of the Vansant office.
Before he joined VDOF, he worked for the Virginia Department of Corrections.
“Today our hearts are broken as we send our sincere condolences to Rocky’s family, friends and fellow colleagues during this difficult time,” said State Forester Rob Farrell in a news release.
Forestry officials say an investigation is underway to figure out what happened.
We have also learned that Wood was also the Chief of the Haysi Volunteer Fire Department and was the Vice Mayor for the town of Haysi.
STATEMENT ON VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY TRAGEDY
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – At approximately 8:30 p.m. on March 9, a Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) employee was killed while fighting a 15-acre wildfire along Lester’s Fork Road near the Roseann community in Buchanan County.
Rocky S. Wood was a seven-year VDOF employee who worked in the Western Region’s Vansant Office. Rocky joined VDOF full-time as a forest technician and
commissioned special forest warden in 2016. Prior to that, he worked as a part-time wildland firefighter with the agency and for the Virginia Department of Corrections.
“Today our hearts are broken as we send our sincere condolences to Rocky’s family, friends and fellow colleagues during this difficult time,” said State Forester Rob Farrell.
VDOF has been working in close coordination with the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and an investigation into the event is underway. The fire was contained as of early this morning.
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