Funeral to be held at Truist Park for fallen DeKalb firefighter
The funeral for DeKalb County Master Firefighter Preston Fant will be held Thursday inside Truist Park.
The 21-year veteran firefighter died Monday while trying to save his colleague as they battled a blaze at a film company warehouse on South Stone Mountain Lithonia Road. It was home to Digital Thunderdome, an indie film production studio used for movies and music videos.
Fant, a father of five, will lie in state Thursday on the baseball field in Cobb County starting at 1 p.m., said Chris Messina, general manager of West Cobb Funeral Home and Crematory. The service will begin at 2 p.m., followed by a procession to Kennesaw Memorial Park cemetery for a graveside service.
The funeral will be open to the public, Messina said. It will also be livestreamed for anyone unable to attend.
More details about parking and seating will be announced at a later date.
Fant was a “devoted husband, father and grandfather” who enjoyed watching the Atlanta Braves, hunting, fishing, being a handyman and gathering friends and family around a bonfire, according to his obituary.
He was the first DeKalb firefighter to die in the line of duty. His death came almost exactly a month after the county’s police department lost officer David Rose, who was killed in the Aug. 8 attack on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fant was “not only a firefighter, but a highly skilled rescuer whose training and certifications reflected his extraordinary dedication,” according to his obituary.
He was certified in several specialized rescue operations, including structural collapse operations and confined space operations. Fant’s “skill, courage and calm leadership in the most dangerous conditions earned him the respect and trust of his brothers and sisters in the fire service,” his obituary reads.
“To many, he was the very definition of a firefighter: brave, selfless and unwavering in his commitment to others,” the obituary continued.
As crews battled Monday’s fire, they quickly pivoted to a rescue operation when they realized Fant had become trapped while rescuing his fellow firefighter and needed help. Once they got him out, he was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died.
Details about what caused the fire or how Fant became trapped have not been released.
Scott Hansen, who owns the film studio, previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that no one was inside the warehouse at the time of the fire. His company’s work mostly occurs off-site, and the warehouse is largely used to store props and sets.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help support the family’s financial burden of funeral expenses. Just over $51,000 has been raised in three days.
Five years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, a private funeral for fallen Smyrna police officer Christopher Eric Ewing was also held at Truist Park. Ewing was killed in April 2020 when his patrol vehicle was struck by a suspected drunken driver.
