Churchville fire officials are remembering former fire Chief Thomas Hetherington. He died after a tragic snowmobile accident in the Adirondacks.

Before his death Friday night, Thomas Hetherington was well-respected in the village of Churchville.

Chief Andrew Vargo was his friend for 30 years and he spoke about Hetherington’s contributions to the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department.

“Tom started in 1987 with our explorer post," Vargo said. "He joined the department in 1990 he then became an officer in 1994 and he was chief in 2007 and 2008 and finished up there as an officer and went back to being a regular member.”

In recent years, Hetherington served as Assistant Chief at Middlesex Fire Department.

He was also a fire protection specialist and investigator according to a post on the fire department’s Facebook page.