Dalton Ingram, a North Texas firefighter, lived to respond to situations. His coworkers will tell you that it was his dream job, and that he brightened everyone’s day.
Many of Ingram’s coworkers are devastated after receiving a phone call informing them of his death. Angela Brown, an Eagle Mountain Fire Department paramedic, recalls the first time Ingram walked through the door. He quickly became a part of the fire station family.
“To lose your own, it’s a completely different feeling,” Brown told me. “It wasn’t until I passed the scene that I realized this was one of our own. And he’s gone; we won’t see him again.”
According to Tarrant County deputies, Ingram collided with a power pole around 1:30 a.m. in the 8700 block of Boat Club Road. Pieces of his pickup truck are spread around the roadside. The single-vehicle crash occurred in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County, roughly two miles from his Eagle Mountain fire station. Emergency personnel worked to extricate Ingram’s body from the collision. He died on the spot.
“A big, big piece of our department is gone now,” Brown was saying. “It was quite surprising. “And those are shoes that cannot be filled here.”
The 26-year-old joined Eagle Mountain Fire after beginning his career as a part-time volunteer firefighter in Everman. His previous supervisor, Fire Chief Landon Whatley, says Dalton had a similar impact at their fire station. Fire Chief Whatley assigned Ingram his first part-time job as a firefighter.
“So, he was the kind of guy that would, even if somebody was down that day, where they didn’t want to train or they had to get a negative attitude immediately, he would pick them back up.”
As the sheriff’s Traffic Investigation Unit works to uncover the cause of the fatal crash, Ingram’s coworkers believe the fire station will never be the same without him. Especially considering he would sometimes go to the fire station on his days off.
“We’re used to seeing Dalton every day,” Brown explained.
Whatley told WFAA that he hopes to work with Ingram’s family to ensure that his funeral ceremonies properly memorialize him as one of North Texas’ most dedicated public servants.