Andover councilman dies after assisting EMS with daughter

An Andover borough councilman and longtime public servant died Saturday when he suffered a massive heart attack after helping an EMS unit that responded to a vehicle accident involving his daughter, according to a family member.

Eskil "Scott" Danielson, 49, a captain and director of communications for the Warren County Department of Public Safety, collapsed at Newtown Hospital and was airlifted at 4:34 p.m. from there to Morristown Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8:30 p.m.

Danielson was at Newton Hospital awaiting word on his daughter after assisting fellow members of the Lakeland Rescue Squad, an emergency services unit out of Byram. The squad was dispatched at 3:30 p.m. to a crash on Route 206 on the border of Byram and the borough of Andover. When Danielson learned his 19-year-old daughter, Alycia, was a crash victim, he went to the scene to help treat both her and the occupant of the other vehicle, according to his brother, Andover Township Police Chief Eric Danielson.

Scott Danielson traveled to Newton Medical Center to check on his daughter, and while in the waiting room suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed, Eric Danielson said. Scott was airlifted at 4:34 p.m. to Morristown Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Alycia Danielson was later released from Newton Hospital.

Eric Danielson told the Daily Record his brother followed his father, retired Byram Police Chief Eskil "Skip" Danielson, into public service at age 14, becoming an Eagle Scout and serving as a cadet in the Lakeland Rescue Squad and later becoming squad chief.

After graduating Lenape Valley High School in 1984, Scott Danielson  became an emergency services dispatcher in Hopatcong, at the Morris County Public Safety and Training Academy and with the New Jersey State Police.

"He really was dedicated to volunteering and serving the public, and he covered all the disciplines," Eric Danielson said. "His biggest passion in life was helping others."

By the early 1990s, he was working with Warren County Communications, becoming a captain and its division manager, overseeing 35 employees while also serving on the Warren County Haz-Mat Team.

In Andover, he also served as Office of Emergency Management coordinator and was a past member of the Andover Borough Fire Co. He also was a former member of the New Jersey Fire Service.

Borough voters elected him to his first term on the council in 2008, and was re-elected to a third term in 2014, assuming the duties of the council's 911 coordinator.

A graduate of the Sussex County Police Academy, he also completed a certified public manager program through Rutgers University and became an expert in the field of police-fire-EMS grantsmanship who successfully acquired several million dollars in funding for communications equipment and fire and EMS vehicles in Sussex and Warren counties.

Fellow officers and public servants from throughout northwest New Jersey took to social media to pay tribute to Danielson.

"Scott answered his last call shortly around 15:30 Saturday afternoon," Lakeland EMS posted on Facebook."Rest in peace, Scott. We'll take it from here."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Danielson family during this difficult time," Assemblyman Parker Space posted. "Scott was an asset to Andover Borough and Sussex County. His service to the public will be sorely missed. RIP Scott."

"Capt. Danielson was an invaluable asset to this department and many other public safety agencies in Warren County. Scott always put the public's safety first and foremost in his work and he was a true professional. He will be missed by many," the Washington Twp. (Warren County) Police Department posted on its Facebook page.

Arrangements are being made by the Cochran Funeral Home in Independence. According to an obituary posted on the Cochran website, Danielson is survived by his wife of 25 years, Tammy Lynn (nee Sweller), a son, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Aaron Danielson and his wife, Kelly, of Pemberton; and daughters Amanda Lynn and Alycia Marie at home; his parents, Eskil “Skip” and Judy Danielson of Byram; mother-in-law Donna Sweller of Newton; brothers Kevin and his wife, Cindy, of Hackettstown, and Eric and his wife, Debbie, of Andover Township.

A funeral service will be begin 10 a.m. Thursday at Cochran Funeral Home, 905 High St., Hackettstown. Burial will be at Locust Hill Cemetery, 168 North Sussex St., Dover. Calling hours at the funeral home will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Lakeland Emergency Squad, P.O. Box 311, Andover, NJ 07821.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.