"He was a good boy," said Henry Reed.
"I was proud of him."
Henry says he was especially proud of his son, Jeffrey, when he found his calling in life: being a firefighter.
On June 5, Reed was on the scene of a vacant house fire on Hogan's Place Road operating a fire engine.
He died on June 8.
Family members tell WSLS a fireman called out to Reed to run water, but he never answered.
Reed was taken to Pulaski Community Hospital and then transferred to UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville.
The family says before Reed reached UVA he had two strokes.
"He was 39 years old. He hadn't even lived half of his life. It bothers me. Sometimes I can't explain it, but, to me, it really...it just devastated me," said Henry Reed, Jeffrey's father.
"I've never had anything hurt me as bad as that did."
Reed's fireman uniform and hat are still hanging inside the Pulaski firehouse...a reminder of the person everyone cared about.
"He was kind, good hearted and he would help anybody," said Henry Reed.
He also says his loved being a firefighter, but that his real passions were hunting and fishing.
"He was more than being a son. He was my hunting buddy, fishing buddy. He was everything. He's going to be really, really missed."
The Pulaski Fire Department declined to comment on-camera, but in a statement says "The Town of Pulaski extends our deepest sympathy to his family."
Reed leaves behind a wife and three children.
His funeral will be held Friday.
His father tells WSLS he will be buried at the family cemetery.
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