'He was taken from us way too soon': Community remembers 20-year-old Grand Rapids firefighter
GRAND RAPIDS – Although he had just turned 20 on April 26, Riley Daniel Ray Huiras had an impact on his community that "went far beyond his 20 years of life."
"Once you met him, you didn't forget him," Grand Rapids Police Chief Melvin Pedersen said.
Huiras, the son of Kevin and Tami Huiras, was an Eagle Scout, played the violin and the piano, worked for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters baseball team, volunteered as an auxiliary officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department and was a firefighter with the Grand Rapids Volunteer Fire Department.
"His greatest passion is the betterment of others through police work and firefighting," his obituary said.
Huiras died Wednesday from a brain aneurysm. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church, 441 Garfield St., Wisconsin Rapids. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of the service at the church.
Huiras went to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for a year after he graduated from Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids in 2020, according to his obituary. He then transferred to Mid-State Technical College to pursue a career in criminal justice. He also joined the Grand Rapids Police Department's Auxiliary Unit.
The Auxiliary Unit is a volunteer organization, Pedersen said. The members aren't sworn officers, but they often are called in to provide traffic and crowd control at events and incidents. Huiras had worked at the Wisconsin State Water Ski Show Championships in July. He worked each of the four days of the event, Pedersen said.
Huiras began volunteering for the Grand Rapids Volunteer Fire Department a year ago, Grand Rapids Fire Chief Bob Piatt said. Huiras took classes to be a law enforcement officer during the day and was a firefighter at night.
"In June, he took the state certification test and passed his firefighter one, literally a month and a half ago," Piatt said.
Huiras' father is a 20-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Volunteer Fire Department and Huiras, like many of the members' children, grew up helping at the station and at fundraising events.
"He was well liked by all the (fire department) members," Piatt said. "He was that young person with great manners, always saying please and thank you."
Huiras was driven and had his life pointed in the right direction, Piatt said. He wanted to serve his community.
"Saturday evening, he was fighting that big fire down in Nekoosa," Piatt said.
The fire started in a garage Saturday evening and spread to two homes and a second garage. Multiple departments, including the Grand Rapids Volunteer Fire Department, responded to the scene to assist the Nekoosa Fire Department.
Huiras was on his way back from the fire when a call came in for a crash in Grand Rapids, Piatt said. Huiras and another young member of the department hopped off one emergency vehicle and directly onto another one to go to the crash scene, Piatt said.
Huiras went home from the second call and, sometime between 2 and 6 a.m. Sunday, suffered a brain aneurysm. The fire department he had been a part of was called to rush him to the hospital, where he died on Wednesday.
According to his obituary, Huiras was an organ donor and his "loving and caring spirit will continue to live on."
"He was taken from us way too soon," Piatt said.
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Huiras also worked for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters for six years, said Brett Loftis, radio play-by-play broadcaster and director of media relations for the Rafters.
Huiras was the team's scoreboard operator, part of the game day staff and would help the team's interns with doing the players' analytics, Loftis said.
Loftis is from South Carolina and said the way Huiras interacted with people reminded Loftis of the "Southern hospitality" he grew up with. Huiras made Loftis feel welcome when Loftis came to Wisconsin Rapids.
"With (Huiras), you always knew you had a friend and someone who had your back," Loftis said.
Huiras was a hard worker, Loftis said. When the Rafters needed something done, Huiras was always the first person there to do it, Loftis said.
During Thursday evening's Rafters' game, the team held a moment of silence for Huiras. The pitchers put an "R.H." on the back of the pitcher's mound in his honor.
"He was very beloved by this community," Loftis said. "He had an impact on the Rafters' community that went far beyond his 20 years of life."
Whether it was as a police officer, a firefighter or anything else he wanted to do, Huiras would have succeeded, Pedersen said.
"Some people come and go and don't have an impact," Pedersen said, "he was just the opposite."
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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Grand Rapids firefighter Riley Huiras dies from brain aneurysm
