Community comes together to lay CalFire captain to rest

A mountain community is coming together as they get ready to lay a CalFire captain to rest.

Stacy Hamilton was killed in a car crash in the North Valley.

The California Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate to try and figure out what happened behind the wheel.

Hamilton's friends say at this point, they're not concerned with what caused the captain to veer off the road. They're just focused on grieving, and doing what they to help the family through this heartbreaking loss.

"Everybody feels that loss. Everybody is grieving with the family," says Jaime Day, a family friend.

A family man, a firefighter, and a friend - that's how members of the community are remembering the Cal Fire captain.

"He's very professional at what he did. He's very proud of his boys. He was the kind of guy that you called up would be there for you," says another family friend, Mark Bertuccelli.

Captain Hamilton was part of the Cal Fire Tuolumne Calaveras unit - assigned to the Columbia Air Attack Base where he was an Air Tactical Group Supervisor.

Seth Chrisman is friends with Hamilton's sons. His favorite memory is when Hamilton took him on a ski trip with the family.

"He stayed right behind me to make sure I could get down the mountain and felt really comfortable and safe. I think that speaks to his character," he says.

The community is now trying to give back some of that same generosity as a GoFundMe page started for the family has already raised more than $14,000 in just four days.

Day hopes to raise $100,000 to help the family with the memorial and their son's college fund as he gets ready to enter his freshman year.

Meanwhile Hamilton's friends and family are keeping the memories close as they get ready to lay the man they call a hero to rest.

"He protected others - whether it be in wildfires or going down the mountain slope in skis," he says.

CHP officers say they're letting the family grieve and lay Hamilton to rest before they continue on with their investigation to figure what led to the crash.