A tight-knit community is left mourning after the tragic loss of a fire captain over the weekend. Johnson County Missouri Fire Protection District (JCFPD) Captain Vernon Collett collapsed while on the scene of a half-acre grass fire Saturday afternoon in Warrensburg.

Vernon Collett, 60, collapsed while fighting a field fire in rural Missouri Saturday afternoon. Collett had been with the Johnson County Fire Protection District for 29 years.

Capt. Vernon Collett, a lifelong resident of the county he served, was with the Johnson County Fire Protection District for more than 29 years at station No. 6 near Valley City. He was 60 years old.

A fire captain in Johnson County, Missouri, has died in the line of duty. The Johnson County Fire Protection District says Captain Vernon Collett collapsed while actively fighting a natural cover fire in a rural part of the county. Despite nearly an hour of lifesaving efforts at the scene, he was pronounced dead.

A Johnson County fire captain died while in the line of duty on Saturday. According to a Facebook post from the Johnson County Fire Protection District, Captain Vernon Collett was dispatched to natural cover fire in the 600 block of Northeast MM Highway in rural Johnson County around 1:45 p.