Illinois fire chief killed in freak accident

MEDORA, Ill. — A longtime fire chief of a small Illinois town is killed in a freak accident while on-duty.

Medora Fire Chief Kenneth Lehr and other firefighters were in the process of shutting down a highway when a fellow firefighter backed up a truck and hit the chief.

The 59-year-old Lehr had been chief since 2006.

He served with the department for 20 years, and also made himself available for the ambulance district.

“Very involved in the community, spent a lot of time at the firehouse, he was also an EMT, worked on the ambulance service, anytime anybody needed any help, Kenny was there, just a great guy, really going to be missed in this community,” Earl Dixon, President of the Medora Fire District, told KTVI.