EMMITSBURG, MARYLAND - The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend this weekend honors the lives of the 107 firefighters killed in the line of duty in 2003 and 3 firefighters killed in previous years.
Of the firefighters who died in 2003, 55 were volunteer firefighters, 39 were career firefighters, and 13 were contract firefighters.
They incude a Jefferson man.
The deaths resulted from many causes, including building collapses while trying to rescue fellow firefighters and children, air tanker crashes while fighting wildland fires, vehicular accidents while en route to fire calls, and training accidents.
The four Georgia firefighters who will be honored are:
*Lattie F. Collins, III, 36, volunteer firefighter, Donalsonville Fire
Department, who died January 8, 2003, in a motor vehicle accident while responding to the station for a call. New to the department, he also served as a chaplain to the Seminole County Sheriff's Department. Collins was pastor of First
Presbyterian Church in Donalsonville. A devoted native of Johnson City, Tennessee, he had worked with
homeless programs in Alabama and headed up disaster relief efforts after Tropical Storm Hannah.
*Randy K. Hill, 43, volunteer battalion chief, Screven County Fire
Department, who died April 7, 2003, when he collapsed after completing a 3-mile walk as part of a monthly physical fitness training drill. A 15-year veteran with the department, he was chief of Screven County's Station #5 in Hiltonia. Hill
worked as a farmer.
*John Robert "Bobby" Patrick, 54, career lieutenant, Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services, who died April 14, 2003, when he suffered a heart attack while fighting an arson structure fire. A 15-year veteran with Gwinnett County, he was named 1989 Rookie of the Year and received eight Letters of Commendation and several Unit Citation Awards. He had previously served with the City of Rome Fire Department for 12 years.
*Doug Waters, Jr., 40, volunteer training officer, City of
Jefferson Fire Department, who died April 29, 2003, at home from cardiovascular causes after responding to a call. He was also a career sergeant with Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, assigned to Station #2, which has recently
been dedicated in his memory. Waters was a senior structural fire instructor at the Georgia Fire Academy for four years and a member of the Georgia Smoke Divers.
Four fire service honor guard units from Georgia will participate in the national tribute including: Cherokee County Fire-Emergency Services, Forsyth County Fire Department, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services, and Macon-
Bibb County Fire Department.
Wednesday
October 9th, 2024
8:24AM
