Former Garner
Firefighter Dies in Line of
Duty
Eastern Wake firefighter Todd Blanchard, 31, died Thursday, July 14, 2005 around 1 AM from injuries suffered at a fire at Turnipseed Road and Major Slade Road in the unincorporated Knightdale area.
According to fire officials, a massive tree at that intersection was struck by lightning at approximately 5:00 PM yesterday afternoon. Firefighters responded, applied water, and, when the fire appeared to be out, left the scene.
Blanchard was one member of a three-firefighter crew that returned to the scene at 12:42 AM today in response to a report that the tree was still smoldering. The crew applied water to the smoldering area, and then approached the tree to examine that smoldering area more closely. As the crew walked toward the tree, a limb estimated to be 2.5 feet in diameter broke and fell. Blanchard was struck by the limb. The two firefighters who responded with Blanchard managed to remove the limb, and began CPR when they determined that Blanchard's breathing and heart had stopped. Eastern Wake EMS paramedics arrived at the scene, initiated advanced life support treatment and took Blanchard to WakeMed. Paramedic and hospital efforts to revive Blanchard were unsuccessful. He was aggressively managed by EMS and the Trauma Staff at WakeMed, with a time of death around 0230. Massive chest trauma was the cause of death.
A line-of-duty firefighter death is investigated by the State Fire
Marshal's Office, the North Carolina Department of Labor's occupational health and safety staff and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Eastern Wake fire officials initiated this process before 6:00 AM this morning.
Blanchard had worked as a full-time firefighter for Eastern Wake Fire
Department for approximately two years. He came to Eastern Wake Fire
Department from the Garner Fire Department.
Surviving Blanchard are his parents, two daughters
and a fiancé. Blanchard and his fiancé were planning
an October wedding.
Eastern Wake fire officials have asked that media inquiries be directed to Sharon Brown, Wake County Public Information Officer, 856-7330.
from WRAL
"There was nothing else in the
world he would ever want to do," said Blanchard's
fiancée,
Allison Miller. "He loved his job."
The couple had been planning to get married in
October.
"We were gonna get married in three months, and
now I'm not going to be able to do that," Miller
said. "I already miss him and I love him and I
know he loved me."
Miller, a Garner paramedic, was
on duty, listening to the emergency radio, when
she heard her fiancée
called out to the tree fire. She called to tell
him to be careful, but the phone just rang.
"Then, 30 minutes later, I hear them say they
need an ambulance, that they had a firefighter
down," Miller said. "And I knew right then and
there -- the hair on my arms and the back of my
neck stood up -- because he was the only one not
talking on the radio. So, I knew it was him."
Things were quiet Thursday at Blanchard's fire
station, where flags flew at half-staff as fellow
firefighters mourned their loss. They plan to
mourn thand celebrate Blanchard's life at the
station this weekend.
But the loss is much greater for Miller.
"It took me 31 years to find a man who loved me
for who I am," she said. "I'll never find anybody
else that loved me like he loved me." |
