Apple Valley Fire Engineer Jared Shepard killed in off-duty motorcycle accident

Loved ones are mourning the death of an Apple Valley Fire Protection District engineer, who died in an off-duty motorcycle accident over the weekend.

On Sunday, Jared Shepard was taken to a Menifee hospital after being seriously injured in a motorcycle practice run in Lake Elsinore. He was preparing for the Police and Fire Christmas Grand Prix Inland Regional in Wildomar, according to AV Fire Inspector Jennifer Eisenbrey.

Shepard's body was later escorted from the hospital to the Riverside County Coroner’s office, Eisenbrey told the Daily Press. Local and state fire agencies joined the procession, including Apple Valley Fire, Cal Fire, Riverside County Fire and Murrieta Fire departments.

Shepard served with Apple Valley Fire since 2017. Before that, he worked for the Fort Irwin Fire Department and was a paid-on-call firefighter in Victorville, Eisenbrey said.

In a previous interview, Shepard told the Daily Press that he was a supporter of raising money for those battling cancer. He often helped fellow firefighters by taking monetary donations from passing motorists along Bear Valley Road during “Fill the Boot” fundraisers.

In 2019, Shepard joined fellow fighters from Apple Valley and across the nation as they climbed 1,356 steps of the Columbia Center skyscraper in Seattle,

Shepard’s climb of the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi was part of the 28th annual LLS Firefighter Stairclimb in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Apple Valley Fire officials are asking the public to join them in keeping Shepard's family and friends in their thoughts and prayers.

Memorial services for Shepard are pending.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Loved ones mourn death of Apple Valley Fire Engineer Jared Shepard