‘Can’t imagine … him not being there’: Clayton firefighter dies after COVID-19 outbreak

In 2000, Jason Dean joined the Clayton Fire Department as a young volunteer, a self-professed fire training geek itching to learn.

On his way to becoming deputy chief, he brought Clayton to a new level of rescue service, and for years he sought a ladder truck for his hometown, hounding the mayor for the coveted equipment.

Two days before Dean died of complications from COVID-19, Clayton finally got the truck.

“He blinked twice,” said Mayor Jody McLeod, recalling a hospital visit. “So we know he knew.”

Dean, the 42-year-old deputy chief of operations and training for the Johnston County department, died early Wednesday, one month after an outbreak struck 17 people at the department.

One firefighter and a firefighter’s spouse remain hospitalized in Smithfield, but the town is hopeful for their recovery. Town spokeswoman Stacy Beard said Dean had underlying medical issues.

Dean is survived by his wife, Kristy, and his two daughters, Addie and Harper, aged 13 and 7.

As the town prepared for his memorial, Dean’s helmet sat in front of a Clayton fire truck draped in black cloth.

“It can’t be measured, his contribution,” said Jason Thompson, the town’s mayor pro tem and Dean’s former roommate. “The only thing that comes close are the lives that were saved. I can’t imagine going in this station and him not being there.”

Building up the fire department

A Clayton native, Dean began as a paramedic and and joined the department as a volunteer in 2000. He had also served three years in the U.S. Army after graduating from Clayton High School.

Beard said Clayton still had a small-town focus on fighting fires when Dean joined the department, and he helped it slowly build its rescue service through constant training.

“He was about getting into the small confined spaces and getting into a boat to rescue the man doing the power lines,” she said.

“Simply put, he was a fire training geek,” Beard wrote in a statement approved by Dean’s family, “an over-qualified instructor who was always seeking the next certification, always looking to add a new technical fire/rescue discipline or specialty course. He taught courses around the state. To say he had passion for the fire department is an understatement.”

Outbreak at Clayton Fire Department

Health officials have been unable to learn how the outbreak began, the town reported in August, but the first sick firefighter led to four positive COVID-19 test results on the same shift. Soon, 17 in all had tested positive from the department’s three shifts.

Of those, three were hospitalized.

Fire Chief Lee Barbee said the department was sanitized daily and firefighters tried to keep social distance. But staying 6 feet apart is difficult when responding to car crashes and medical calls, he said.

“They don’t eat at the table together anymore — they eat alone,” Barbee said in August. “The bunk rooms they share have now been moved and only one person sleeps in a room. That means some sleeping in the training room or the small gym room.”

Funeral arrangements for Dean are pending. Donations to the Clayton Firefighters Association can be made in Dean’s honor through ClaytonFire.org and will be given to the family and other firefighters still battling COVID-19.

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 9:40 AM.