For the Record 11/20

Nominations Being Accepted for 2020 Firehouse Valor Awards

The nomination period for the 2020 Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor, Unit Citation Awards and Thomas Carr Community Service Awards is now open. Nominations are for events or actions from 2020. Nominate an individual or unit here. The deadline is Feb. 26, 2021.

The Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor recognizes acts of courage and bravery, including both physical acts to rescue a victim in hazardous conditions as well as critical decisions or preventative actions that ensured civilian or firefighter safety. 

The Thomas Carr Community Service Awards highlight the actions of fire service personnel who have gone above and beyond in service to their community.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]. 

Line-of-Duty Deaths

11 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Four firefighters died from health-related issues, three died from COVID-19, two died in aircraft crashes, one died in a motor vehicle accident and one firefighter died during wildfire operations. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters. For the latest on COVID-19-related LODDs, visit firehouse.com/covid-19.

PILOT THOMAS DUFFY, 40, of Central Copters Inc. in Belgrade, MT, died on Aug. 24. Duffy, who was working as a wildland-contract pilot for the U.S. Forest Service, was conducting bucket drops from a Type 1 K-Max helicopter. While battling the White River Fire in Mount Hood National Forest, his helicopter crashed. The official cause of the crash is under investigation.

FIREFIGHTER DIANA JONES, 63, who was a volunteer firefighter for the Cresson, TX, Volunteer Fire Department died on Aug. 31. Jones was working for a private company during the wildland fire season. She was battling the wildfires in the Mendocino National Forest in California when she and two other firefighters were involved in a vehicle crash. Jones was repositioning the engine when it backed over an embankment and into a fire.  She died from the injuries that she sustained in the accident

INTERIM CAPT. STEVEN TOWER, 54, of the Goffstown, NH, Fire Department died on Aug. 31. During a mandated physical fitness ability test at the New Hampshire Fire Academy, Tower became ill and collapsed. Aid was rendered to him, and he was transported to the local hospital, where he died a short time later. The cause of his death is under investigation.

CAPT. TOMMY SEARCY, 45, of the Houston Fire Department died on Sept. 8. Searcy contracted COVID-19 from exposure in the workplace from numerous fire and EMS calls to which he responded where individuals were diagnosed with the disease. He was hospitalized for a month while he fought the virus. 

FIRE CAPT. FRAZIER HOLBERT, 57, of the Carrollton, TX, Fire Department died on Sept.13. Holbert went to bed at the fire station after returning from an emergency call. Soon after, he suffered a stroke. Fellow firefighters later found Holbert unresponsive and transported him to a local hospital. He was subsequently transported to another hospital, where he later died. 

FIREFIGHTER CHARLES MORTON, 39, of the San Bernardino National Forest, Big Bear Hotshots, died on Sept. 17. Morton, who was squad boss on the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Crew, died during interagency fire suppression activities on the El Dorado Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest in California. 

SECOND ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF JAMES P. BROOKS, JR., 45, of the Whitehall, NY, Volunteer Fire Company, died on Sept. 18. On May 2, while responding to a structure fire, Brooks thought he pulled a muscle. While tending to his duties on scene, Brooks started to feel intense pain. He was transported to the Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont, where it was determined that he suffered a torn aorta. He was airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center. During this hospital stay, Brooks suffered multiple complications, including a blood clot, kidney damage and a heart attack. A subsequent emergency operation resulted in Brooks experiencing three strokes, which left him confined to a wheelchair and only with the use of his right arm. Brooks was released from the hospital on July 31.

DEPUTY CHIEF JASON DEAN, 42, of the Clayton, NC, Fire Department, died on Sept. 22. Dean tested positive for the COVID-19 virus after exposure on the job on Aug. 12. He was admitted to the hospital a week later for complications from COVID-19. Dean remained under hospital care until his death.

FIREFIGHTER/PILOT RICKY FULTON, 58, of Aero S.E.A.T. in Sterling, CO, died on Sept. 22. Fulton was flying a T-857 single-engine air tanker that was on an on-call contract with BLM Fire and Aviation at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, ID. He died when his plane crashed while he was fighting the Schill Fire near Emmett, ID. The crash remains under investigation.

FIRE CHIEF RICHARD “RICK” TODD, 58, of the Salem, WV, Volunteer Fire Department, died on Sept. 23. While on duty on Sept. 1, Todd responded to an EMS call, where an individual had a known case of COVID-19. Todd subsequently contracted the virus and died three weeks later.

FIREFIGHTER/EMT CHARLES WOODS, 58, of the Adwolfe Fire Department in Marion, VA, died on Sept. 23. Woods responded to a residential fire and began fire suppression activities. During operations, Woods was found unresponsive in a tanker after having filled it from a nearby fire hydrant and completing several other on-scene duties. Crews at the scene provided lifesaving efforts and transported Woods to the hospital. All attempts to revive him, however, were unsuccessful.