An off-duty firefighter for the Nikiski Fire Department died in an apparent drowning off of the coast of Oxnard, California Friday evening, according to the Ventura County Star. The victim was identified on Saturday as 54-year-old Matthew Quiner, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s office.
The Ventura County Star reports that Quiner was apparently found in the water and given CPR on the shore. He was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard where he was pronounced dead. The publication reports that Quiner had been wearing swimming gear and had been swimming alone at the time. According to a social media post from his wife, Quiner reportedly suffered a heart attack while snorkeling in the water, which resulted in the drowning. She says that he had acute coronary syndrome and two of his coronary arteries were mostly blocked.
Quiner, who had reportedly been working with the Nikiski Fire Department since 2002, had also been an EMT and engineer for them.
The Nikiski Fire Department’s Facebook page posted an image of their fire department logo with a black bar across the middle from left to right, which is typically called the mourning band.
A GoFundMe has been set up in hopes of paying for funeral expenses with the goal of raising $25,000. The caption of the fundraiser said that he unexpedly died while on vacation with most of his family in California. It also says that details of their return to Alaska and his funeral arrangements have not been finalized.
Click here to go to the GoFundMe link.
