On Sunday, March 24, 2024, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LACoFD) heartbreakingly shared the active-duty death of Fire Fighter Jonathan Van Oeffelen, Engine 52-B, Battalion 13.
Fire Fighter Van Oeffelen faithfully served as a firefighter for nearly 20 years. He is survived by his wife Kelly, their four sons – Evan, Nathan, Austin, and Ryan, his father and mother, John and Lynn, siblings, and a host of family members, friends, and colleagues.
Fire Fighter Van Oeffelen’s passion for the fire service started as a young Fire Explorer with the Costa Mesa Fire Department and continued as an Ambulance Operator from 2002 to 2003 with the Huntington Beach Fire Department. Hired by the City of Vernon as a firefighter in 2004, Fire Fighter Van Oeffelen spent 16 years there before becoming a LACoFD firefighter when Vernon transitioned in 2020.
As a LACoFD firefighter, Van Oeffelen worked at Fire Stations 143, 94, 83, and with his best friend Fire Fighter Jon Flagler at Fire Station 52, who tragically paid the ultimate sacrifice and lost his life while battling a fire on January 6, 2022.
The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, together with President
Dave Gillotte of IAFF Local 1014, and the entire LACoFD extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the Van Oeffelen family during this extraordinarily difficult time.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
Fire Fighter Van Oeffelen is greatly missed by all of us – and he will never be forgotten.
