Firefighter Ethan Quillen of the Paw Paw Volunteer Fire Department is being remembered as a family man who served his community out of love. He was killed Wednesday by a fallen power line in Almena Township. Speaking on Thursday, Paw Paw Fire Chief Jim DeGroff said the 28-year-old Quillen was like all fire volunteers. He wanted to help others.
“The group of people who are here, the men and women who serve in this fire department, they love their community,” DeGroff said. “We’re so fortunate to have the people we have, and they don’t want anything in return. Their satisfaction is helping another family or helping anywhere we can. We don’t want pay, we don’t press. We don’t look for that. Ethan was the example of the Paw Paw Volunteer Fire Department.”
Quillen was a Marine Corps veteran. He was killed while working on 30th Street near Red Arrow Highway. He was responding to a downed power line when a tree broke, causing more of the power line to come down. A memorial to Quillen has been placed outside of the Paw Paw fire station. A Go Fund Me launched by the fire department for Quillen’s family had already raised more than $35,000 by Thursday evening.
