FRANKLIN, TN : Franklin firefighters remember colleague killed on mission trip on Wednesday, 7th September 2016

Franklin firefighters gathered Wednesday to remember a colleague they said was one of the smartest and funniest people they knew.

Black bunting draped Station 8. A fire truck sat out front with the gear of Dimitris Fotopoulos on the front.

Fotopoulos, who went by “JD,” died over the weekend on a mission trip in Honduras with his church group. He had been in a motorbike crash.

His team remembered him as a man they said will never be replaced.

“He was a guy that spread cheer. That’s what he did. He was really good at it. There was not a negative bone in him,” said Wylie Jones with the Franklin Fire Department. “But when it came to doing our jobs, you were confident that he knew what he was doing and he was going to be a professional and it was going to go by the numbers. He was definitely a fireman, definitely a fireman.”

“We’re never going to fill his void. There’s only four of us. It’s like ripping an arm or a leg off. You’re losing 25 percent of your crew. He was just such a big part of our positivity, our environment, the aura of the station,” said Max Cook with the Franklin Fire Department.

Fotopoulos had been with the Franklin Fire Department for nine years. Prior to that, he was a firefighter in Michigan.

Fotopoulos never married or had children. His family lives in Michigan.

Firefighters said Fotopoulos had extended family in Greece and was planning to visit them in a few weeks.

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Franklin firefighters remember colleague killed on mission trip