Firefighter dies in crash on way home from church

Chad Smith had just finished practicing for the role of Jesus in a church musical Sunday.

He was driving home when his car hydroplaned and hit a tree in Rockdale County.

Smith, 42, was killed instantly, Channel 2 Action News reported.

“One afternoon he's portraying Jesus,” said his pastor, Gary Waterman, “and the next moment he's actually talking to Jesus.”

A father & local firefighter died on his way home from church Sunday. How his death is impacting a community at 5PM @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/5quLop6jfN
— Liz Artz Hayes (@LizArtzHayes) January 30, 2018

So Smith’s fellow firefighters, without knowing beforehand, responded to an accident involving one of their own.

"It was a shock,” one fellow firefighter said. “He had just gotten off duty that morning."

Smith, a lieutenant, was with the Rockdale County fire department for 15 years.

"You never know,” Waterman said, “when it's going to be the last moment to hug someone again and tell them they mean the world to you.”

In other news:

It happened just blocks from campus.

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