PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Pasco County first-responder is being honored at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.

Jason Tucker was a firefighter and EMT with Pasco County Fire Rescue. He was with the department for 19 years when he died from brain cancer in 2023.

He was 53.

Tucker is one of 140 fallen firefighters being honored nationally in Maryland.

Career-long colleague and friend Chris Kempton said Tucker loved his job.

“He loved the people that he loved, and had a love for the job that had made me, working with him, a better fireman," Kempton said. "Because I looked at him and tried to emulate things that he said and did throughout his entire career.”

Kempton said he and others will watch at the fire station as Tucker is honored.

“He lived in the moment and that’s just how he was," Kempton said. "He lived in the moment and he loved, the people that he loved, he loved unconditionally.”

Public tributes including a candlelight service Saturday and a memorial service Sunday will be streamed.