‘He was our ace.’ Veteran Macon firefighter dies 25 days after motorcycle crash
.JPG "Macon-Bibb County Fire Department arson investigator Ben Gleaton pictured here in 2010.")
Ben Gleaton, a veteran Macon-Bibb County firefighter and arson investigator, died Tuesday at a city hospital of injuries he sustained in a motorcycle wreck last month, Coroner Leon Jones said.
Gleaton, 48, was pronounced dead shortly before 2 p.m., Jones said. He had been hospitalized since a crash the night of March 12.
The wreck happened on U.S. 80 near Tidwell Road on the east side of Lizella in western Bibb County.
He was driving a three-wheeled Harley-Davidson when it ran off the road and rolled over, sheriff’s officials said at the time. Gleaton’s wife, Sherry, a passenger on the motorcycle, was also hurt in the crash.
Jones said Sherry Gleaton has remained hospitalized since the wreck.
Interim Fire Chief Shane Edwards told The Telegraph on Tuesday that Gleaton had been one of the department’s “go-to” people during his nearly 24 years as a firefighter.
“His passion was always investigations,” Edwards said of Gleaton. “He was our ace. ... We’ll all miss Ben.”
While Gleaton had in the past decade advanced to a role as the department’s lead in determining the cause of fires, Edwards said it wasn’t beneath Gleaton to show up at a scene and help extinguish a blaze.
“He was a hands-on person,” Edwards said. “He was one we could always count on.”