Fuentes, 26, died Sunday when the fire truck he was in rolled while responding to a call near Holland.<\/a> The Texas Department of Public Safety is still investigating the crash.<\/p>\nPeople stopped on the side of the road to salute as the procession passed. Some got out of their vehicles and removed their hats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was emotional; it\u2019s the only word I have for it, to see the number of people that showed up and to show up in force,\u201d said Brett Eberhart, public information officer for the Milam County Sheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cPeople that stopped on the side of the road to salute or take their hat off, got out of their vehicle, in fact, to do those kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The escort ended at a funeral home in Cameron, where friends, family and fellow first responders gathered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was beautiful. To see everybody come out, all the departments, law enforcement, band together for him \u2014 it meant a lot to us,\u201d said Alex Rodriguez, Fuentes\u2019 cousin and the Buckholts Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s assistant fire chief. \u201cIt was overwhelming seeing everybody here for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez said Fuentes\u2019 parents didn\u2019t realize how large Wednesday\u2019s turnout would be.<\/p>\n
A department that was family<\/p>\n
Fuentes had been a Buckholts volunteer firefighter for a little over a year. He joined because his brother was already on the department. Rodriguez\u2019s father is the department\u2019s fire chief \u2014 and Fuentes\u2019s uncle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just wanted to be a part of something bigger than what he was,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
Thomas Chamberlain, another Buckholts firefighter, had only worked with Fuentes for about two months. He said it was enough time to feel like family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked at him as a brother, like somebody that I grew up with my whole life, even though we are from different families,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cDoing this, you\u2019re part of a family. You create those bonds. And even in a short amount of time, it hurts. It really does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to the scene<\/p>\n
Buckholt\u2019s crews were already working a separate grass fire call near Holland on Sunday when Rodriguez said the department\u2019s president got a phone call: Fuentes may have rolled his truck responding to another call.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez and his father, the fire chief, rushed to the scene and were among the first first responders to arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a part of this business, this line of work, it is hard,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cYou do feel bad for all the other families you see, victims. But when it\u2019s your own \u2014 not just your own fellow firemen, fellow brother, but your blood \u2014 it cuts deeper. It\u2019s a different kind of hurt. Something you will never be able to forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Remembering RJ<\/p>\n
Fuentes taught at Lamar Middle School and volunteered at his church. He was also a 2023 graduate of Texas A&M University and CH Yoe High School in Cameron.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez said his cousin never turned down a chance to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the true definition of a ride or die,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cHe was down for whatever. No challenge was too big or too small for him. He was willing to help out wherever he was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamberlain said the best way to honor Fuentes now is to keep serving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way to honor him as a firefighter is to go out and fight fires. Respond to accident scenes,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cJust make my presence known in his honor. That\u2019s really all we can do to keep their legacy and their honor going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eberhart, who is also a Texas A&M Corps of Cadets alumnus, said the Aggie Network\u2019s response reflects traditions like Muster and Silver Taps.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see a community who may or may not know somebody that has died come out and pay their respects is just a testament and a tribute to the kind of people that attend that university,\u201d Eberhart said.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez closed with a message for his cousin.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, I love you, little cousin,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI hope you\u2019re up there watching over us. Just until next call, buddy. Until next call.\u201d<\/p>\n
No funeral arrangements have been announced. Fuentes\u2019 family has asked for privacy at this time. KBTX will continue to follow this story and provide updates as they become available.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUCKHOLTS, Texas (KBTX) – Fire trucks and patrol cars from across Central Texas lined the route Wednesday, escorting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[254,2055,2060,2058,2057,2059,2061,27,29,28,2056],"class_list":["post-466340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-live-speeches","tag-live-updates","tag-live-video","tag-press-conference","tag-real-time-coverage","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-video-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}