Firefighter who died in Union Beach to be laid to rest

UNION BEACH, NJ (WABC) -- Services are planned to remember a New Jersey volunteer firefighter killed battling a fire along the Jersey Shore.

The Union Beach Fire Department will remember Robert Meyer during a service Friday night.

He will be laid to rest following a funeral on Saturday.

Flags at the New Jersey Statehouse are flying at half-staff in Meyer's honor.

The 54-year-old collapsed and died Sunday night while fighting a four-alarm fire at a commercial building.

The cause of the fire might be electrical.

Meyer had lost his own house in Sandy and had just moved into a rebuilt home last week.

He had been moving in and out of the building when he suffered a heart attack.

"He was just an amazing, compassionate, beautiful spirit," said Gigi Liaguno-Dorr, who is trying to rebuild her bar and restaurant that was destroyed by the storm and who knew Meyer for years. "He was just a good guy. When you volunteer, you literally put other people before yourself, and he was the very definition of that...He lost his own home, was living in a trailer, and he and the other firefighters were still helping other people after the storm. He was the very meaning of bravery. This town is heavy-hearted today."

The Belford engine company posted the following message on its Facebook page:

"Station 3 lost a brother firefighter today. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as well as our brother and sisters of the Union Beach FD."

A message board at Meyer's firehouse read "Ultimate Sacrifice, Bob Meyer, June 8, 2014."