The low throttle of a bulldozer in the hills above Bolado Park
filled the moments of silence in the crowded fairgrounds grandstand
Thursday afternoon.
Tres Pinos – The low throttle of a bulldozer in the hills above Bolado Park filled the moments of silence in the crowded fairgrounds grandstand Thursday afternoon.
The moments of silence were to honor Matthew Will – a 30-year-old Hollister resident, husband and father of two – who died Oct. 9 after the bulldozer he was operating rolled over on a steep hill while fighting the Colorado Fire in Monterey County the day before.
Hollister Air Attack Base Chief Mark Edria was one of three to eulogize Will. Standing with a CalFire bulldozer behind him and pointing out the dirt in the grandstand, Edria said there may have been no better place to honor Will.
“I feel Matt all over the place today,” Edria said.
Edria said that those in attendance should use Will’s life as inspiration in the wake of his death.
“We can honor a man of honor, who died with honor, by following his example,” Edria said.
Hundreds of family members, friends and firefighters throughout the state attended the memorial service for Will at Bolado Park.
A procession of fire engines and emergency personnel wound its way south from the Hollister Air Attack Base to the memorial service Thursday afternoon – allowing the community to come out and pay their respects to Will. At the Tres Pinos School, every third- through eight-grade student stood quietly along Highway 25 while the procession passed.
The flatbed transport that took Will’s bulldozer to fight fires carried his flag-draped casket into the grandstand. A CalFire honor guard presented the Will family with a folded American flag and a Medal of Valor.
Mike Luce, a forestry equipment manager for CalFire, hired Will as a bulldozer operator in 2003.
He admitted to the crowd that when he heard of Will’s injuries, that he likely wouldn’t survive, Luce thought he never should have hired him.
“That was a foolish thought, though,” Luce told the crowd.
If he had not, Luce said he never would have known Will and he would be without his fondest memory of the fallen firefighter, watching him dance with his daughter, Elsie, at Will’s 30th birthday party.
And Luce wouldn’t have been able to tell Will old-timer stories, he said.
“I will miss Matt,” Luce said. “And one day, an old man will sit and miss Matt.”
San Benito-Monterey Unit Chief George Haines said Will did not fit his image of a typical heavy equipment operator when he came to work at CalFire as a 26-year-old San Diego transplant. Haines came to realize that his first impression was right – Will wasn’t the typical operator.
“He was a special man for a specialized job,” Haines said.
Haines said Will always did the extra tasks.
“Matt wasn’t shy about doing what needed to be done,” Haines said. “He wasn’t content just doing his job.”
In life, Edria said, Will achieved happiness.
Will met his wife, Diana, while they were in elementary school and they became high school sweethearts. They had two children and bought a home in the country north of Hollister.
In 1999, Will became a third-generation firefighter and eventually landed at the Hollister Air Attack Base. He recently passed through the officer academy, making him eligible to become a captain. He had lost 80 pounds doing so.
Local CalFire personnel helped in preparing the memorial service, Hollister Batallion Chief Curt Itson said. Firefighters visited with the Will family and built the podium on which his casket rested during the memorial service, Itson said.
“Matt was extremely popular,” Itson said.
Itson called Will’s death a “terrible loss not only for us, but the local citizens and citizens of the state.”
Will is survived by his wife, Diana Will; their 10-year-old son Trysten; and 8-year-old daughter Elsie.
Family members were unavailable for comment Thursday.
