Fireman Dies at wheel of Truck
Raymond P. Miller

Raymond P. Miller, a 29 year old Dallas firefighter, collapsed and died of a heart attack Wednesday as he drove a ladder truck out of the station.  Firefighter Miller, based at Fire Station #5 at Commerce and Parry (now the Dallas Fire Department Museum), was driving the 65-foot aerial ladder truck out of the doorway of the station in answer to a one-alarm fire call at 6:50 p.m.

Associates at the station said he slumped forward in his seat about the time the truck left the building.  Fire Lieutenant George Standifer, who was sitting beside the driver, saw Firefighter Miller slump over and managed to stop the big truck while it was still in the fire station driveway.  Firemen administered artificial respiration and called for an ambulance as a truck from another station was dispatched to the fire call.  Firefighter Miller was dead on arrival at Baylor Hospital shortly after 7:00 p.m.

His associates at the fire station said he had no history of heart trouble and appeared to be in excellent health, except for a summer cold.

The Dallas Times Herald Account:
Thursday, August 7, 1958


Fireman, 29, Dies at Wheel of His Truck

Funeral arrangements were pending Thursday for Raymond P. Miller, a 29 year old Dallas fireman who collapsed and died of a heart attack Wednesday as he drove a ladder truck out of the station.

Mr. Miller, based at Fire Station 5 at Commerce and Parry, near Fair Park, was driving the 65 foot aerial ladder truck out of the doorway of the station in answer to a one-alarm fire call at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday.  Associates at the station said he slumped forward in his seat about the time the truck left the building.

Fire Lieutenant George Standifer, who was sitting beside the driver, saw Firefighter Miller slump over and managed to stop the big truck while it was still in the fire station driveway.  Firemen administered artificial respiration and called for an ambulance as a truck from another station was dispatched to the fire call.  The fire, a small blaze near a gas stove in a residence, was extinguished with only slight damage, firemen said.

Mr. Miller was dead on arrival at Baylor Hospital shortly after 7 p.m.

A resident of 1514 Belmont in Mesquite, he had been a Dallas fireman four years.  Mrs. Miller and his associates at the fire station said he had no history of heart trouble and appeared to be in excellent health, except for a summer cold.

He served in the US. Marine Corps five years before joining the fire department.  He was a native of Addison.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Suggs Funeral Home, 1001 Second Ave.

Survivors include his wife; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. G.C. Miller of Grapevine; six brothers, L.D and G.C. Miller Jr. of Dallas, Roy Miller of Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, Sidney Miller of Alhambra, Calif., William Miller of Norwalk, Conn. and Eugene Miller of Vincent Air Force Base, Ariz. and three sisters, Mrs. D.T. Smith of Dallas and Mrs. G.H. Roach and Mrs A.L.White.