A northern New Hampshire fire chief has died about a month after a pickup truck collision on Route 16 that left a woman dead as well, according to two fire associations.
Errol Fire Chief Bradley Eldridge was hospitalized with serious injuries after the Dec. 17 crash that killed Linda Gauthier, the New Hampshire Department of Safety said at the time of the crash. But the Errol Firefighters Association and Granite State Fire Service Support Team said Thursday that Eldridge had died.
Through 49 years of service, Eldridge "touched the lives of so many … and will be sadly missed by many," the Granite State Fire Service Support Team said in their statement.
The organization assists New Hampshire first responder agencies when a member of their staff is critically hurt or dies.
A procession for Eldridge was held in Errol Thursday afternoon, according to the town's firefighters association and posts on social media.
Thomas Freedman is listed on the town website as Errol's acting fire chief.
The late-Sunday morning crash in Pinkham's Grant involved Eldridge's pickup truck, which belonged to the fire department, and a Chevrolet Silverado being driven by Gauthier's husband, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, state police said at the time. Gauthier, a 54-year-old from Gorham, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Errol is a Coos County town of several hundred people across Umbagog Lake from Maine. It's about an hour north of Pinkham's Grant.
Police had been investigating what led to the crash. NBC10 Boston has reached out to state police to see if there's been an update on what happened.
