Firefighter dies in fall on Pakistan’s perilous K2
A Montreal firefighter who fell to his death on Pakistan’s treacherous K2 mountain is being remembered as a passionate mountaineer whose courage and “unwavering spirit” propelled him to ascend the world’s highest peaks.
Serge Dessureault, 53, had been leading an international mountaineering expedition when he died early Saturday while attempting to scale the 8,611-metre peak in northern Pakistan, according to Karrar Haidri, secretary of Alpine Club of Pakistan. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fall.
Yanick St-Martin, a fellow firefighter, said Dessureault’s “enormous soul” and passion always shone through, whether he was fighting fires or climbing mountains. He described Dessureault, who has previously summitted Everest, as a cautious climber who always advised him above all to remain alert to danger.
“He told me to take my time, and said it was always the mountain that had the last word,” he said.
Dessureault had been a captain with Montreal’s fire department since 1990, according to the city’s firefighters’ association.
“The shock is all the greater among the firefighters since Serge was known to be an experienced mountain climber, very cautious, always aware of the possible risks at all times and never taking any unnecessary risk,” president Chris Ross said in a statement.
The Montreal Fire Department praised the 28-year veteran as a “firefighter who was fully committed to serving the Montreal community.”
The department said it would offer support to Dessureault’s family, including his wife and children.
A Facebook page following the climb said Dessureault “took a fall near camp 2 at 6,700 metres” early Saturday.