ATLANTIC – William Harold “Hal” Clark is being remembered as a kindhearted volunteer who was especially fond of his community and its people.“He was a loving and giving person,” said David Grant, chief of Atlantic Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co., where Clark was a life member and the company’s president.
Clark answered his final call on Friday evening at a raging brush and woods fire off U.S. Route 13 near New Church, not far from the Maryland state line.
Clark was one of two firefighters transported to the hospital. One was treated for exhaustion and released. Clark was pronounced dead at Peninsula Regional Medical Center.
His line-of-duty death shocked many friends and the larger regional brotherhood of firefighters.
Grant said an autopsy has been performed but a cause of death is not immediately known.
Clark’s funeral arrangements, which will include full firefighter honors, are being planned for late this week but had not been finalized by Sunday morning.
Units and personnel from numerous Eastern Shore of Virginia fire companies and three from Worcester Co., Md., responded to the 5:31 p.m., alarm at 3420 Lankford Highway, across from the Virginia Welcome Center.
Also responding were state forestry departments from Virginia and Maryland with a combined three bulldozers to help extinguish it. Some units and personnel stayed on the scene until 3 a.m. Saturday.
“It was a very fast-moving fire,” said Chief Danny Outten of the New Church Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co.
Outten expressed his condolences for the loss.
“He was a very good guy,” he said of Clark. “He will be greatly missed.”
“It was a bad day for the fire service.”
Clark was a longtime employee with the town of Chincoteague, working in its public works department, and was known for this positive attitude.
“Harold was a model employee,” said Chincoteague Mayor John H. Tarr. “He was just a great person to come on board and work for the town.
“He cared about the community and the people he worked with.”
Grant thanked those who have expressed condolences in the wake of Clark’s death.
“The fire company appreciates the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support from the numerous fire companies from across Delmarva and the Tidewater region during this difficult time,” he said.
“It’s really hard.”
