Jeffrey Vaughn, the first black officer with the Elizabeth City Fire Department, died Monday after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident last Thursday. He was 46.

Vaughn was also the most senior of the three black captains in the department, according to Fire Chief William Pritchard.

File photo (ENLARGE)

Elizabeth City Fire Capt. Jeff Vaughn, shown speaking at a National Day of Prayer observance, May 4, 2006, died Monday.

Vaughn's aunt, Melissa Vaughn, said that he had lost control of his motorcycle Thursday and struck a median. His injuries included a broken ankle, a lacerated liver and some broken ribs.

He spent the weekend in the hospital, before being released about mid-day Monday. He and his brother then headed to the Golden Corral, Vaughn said.

While at the restaurant, he went into a seizure, Vaughn said. He was taken back to the hospital, but died 20 minutes after his arrival.

"They don't really know what happened," she said.

Pritchard said that Vaughn started with the department in 1991 as a firefighter, a position he held for more than three years before he was promoted to the position of engineer.

In 1996 he was put in charge of an engine company as a captain. He was assigned to Fire Station 1, shift C. Vaughn was in the process of applying to become a battalion chief, Pritchard said.

Melissa Vaughn said Jeffrey was always in charge of projects and setting goals.

The Hertford native coached his son's sports teams, was a state fire instructor and volunteered as a firefighter in Perquimans County.

He was also an instructor for a hunter safety team in Perquimans County, a youth leader at his father's church and a member of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters.

"He was always that kind of go-getter person," she said.

Pritchard said he was helpful in recruiting firefighters because he could always talk.

"Jeff was the kind of person that he took bad and he took good in stride," Pritchard said.

When discussing problems with Vaughn, he said that Vaughn would say, "'Yes, sir, I'll try to do better.'"

"And I could depend on that," Pritchard said.

Vaughn was a co-host with Pasquotank-Camden Fire Marshal Barry Overman in the department's annual fire safety show.

Pritchard compared them both to the popular vaudeville team of Laurel and Hardy and said they played well off of each other.

"He didn't mind making a goof of himself to get a point across," Pritchard said.

Melissa Vaughn said being the department's first African American captain was a challenge for him. He wanted to be a firefighter like one of his uncles had been.

Vaughn is survived by three sisters and a brother, his wife Mattie L. Vaughn; son, Geoffrey; his father, Pastor Willie E. Vaughn of Emmanuel Pentecostal Church; and his mother, Ann Vaughn.

A funeral will be held Saturday, May 24, at 1 p.m. at Evangelical Methodist Church, 820 Okisko Road. Walson Funeral Home, Elizabeth City, is in charge of arrangements.