He married his high school sweetheart and joined the same fire department his beloved father devoted his professional life to for more than two decades.
But Ryan Osler’s life was cut short early Wednesday when the fire rig he was riding in overturned on a dark highway in Lompoc as the Ventura County Fire Department engineer helped battle the Canyon Fire near Vandenberg Air Force Base.
On Wednesday morning, the flag was flying at half-staff outside Station No. 42 in Moorpark, where Osler worked, and flowers were at the bottom of the flagpole. The firefighting community continued to pay respects to the fallen firefighter when his remains were brought back to Ventura County on Wednesday afternoon. As Ventura County and California Highway Patrol helicopters flew overhead, county fire engines and patrol vehicles flanked a white hearse as it left the Santa Barbara County Coroner's Office for Camarillo.