Fire Chief Suffers Emergency at Funeral and Dies

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Janet Mills says a town fire chief has died after suffering a medical emergency at the funeral for a firefighter who was killed while shielding a colleague from flames.

Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco suffered the emergency and died Sunday as several thousand people, including hundreds of firefighters from across New England, gathered in Portland, Maine, to honor Berwick Fire Capt. Joel Barnes ' sacrifice. Barnes was fatally injured in a four-alarm fire earlier this month.

Maine Medical Center spokesman Matt Wickenheiser confirmed that Sacco was stricken at the funeral, rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead in the emergency room.

Mills says Sacco "lost his life while honoring that of his fallen brother."