VAFireNews.com photo by Mike Sanders of Gore Volutneer Fire & Rescue Department's Tanker 14. Described as a "1986 Ford 8000 that was built by Alleghany. It has a 1500 gallon water tank and is equipped with a 1000 gallon per minute pump."
Donald Whitacre talks about losing control of rig on ice and crash that killed his firefighter son Zach
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Update 2:00 PM Eastern Time:
At 1:00 this afternoon Frederick County Fire & Rescue Chief Dennis Linaburg announced that 21-year-old Firefighter Zachary Whitacre was killed in the crash this morning of the tanker from Gore Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department just after 4:00 AM. According to officials, the firefighter's father, Donald Whitacre was driving tanker 14 when the accident occurred. Donald Whitacre was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries.
Here's more from Melissa Boughton at WinchesterStar.com:
Linaburg said the two were the only people involved in the single-vehicle crash and were traveling westbound on U.S. 50 to retrieve a second tank of water for a structure fire.
According to a press release from the West Virginia State Police, Donald Whitacre lost control of the fire truck on “the icy road surface,” causing the vehicle to slide and hit an embankment.
Zachary Whitacre was on the back of the vehicle and ejected when the truck hit the embankment. Whitacre died as a result of his injuries.
State Police say Zachary Whitacre, 21, was riding in the back of a 1986 Ford fire tanker that was heading to the Capon Bridge Fire Company for a refill of water.
Troopers say the driver of that tanker, identified as Donald Whitacre, lost control on an icy Route 50, sending it into an embankment.
Official statement from Frederick County Fire & Rescue Department
It is with deep regret to report the passing of Zachary Whitacre, a volunteer firefighter with the Gore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.
On February 13, 2012 at approximately 03:21, crews from the Gore, Gainesboro, and Reynolds Store Fire Departments responded to a reported structure fire in Hampshire County, West Virginia. During the incident, Tanker 14 of the Gore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department was involved in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 50 west of Timber Ridge Road in West Virginia.
As a result of the crash, the two personnel on the apparatus were injured. Donald A. Whitacre, Jr, the driver/ operator of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries which resulted in him being treated and released from Winchester Medical Center. Volunteer Firefighter Zachary Whitacre sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to Winchester Medical Center where ultimately he succumbed to his injuries.
This incident is under investigation by the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia Fire Marshal's Office, and the Frederick County Fire and Rescue Department.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Whitacre family as well as to the volunteers of Gore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.
Memorial contributions and funeral arrangements will be posted as soon as they become available.
Earlier Coverage:
NOTE: Frederick County Fire & Rescue Department has scheduled a 1:00 PM news conference to discuss this incident.
The news from this morning's fatal fire truck wreck in Hampshire County, West Virginia is slow in coming out. We have confirmed the fire truck was a tanker from the Gore Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department in Frederick County, Virginia. The tanker was shuttling water at a fire in Capon Bridge.
The Hampshire Review reports the victim is a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter and that the wreck occurred on Route 50 near Timber Ridge Road.
VAFireNews.com reports the following:
A Firefighter with the Gore Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department (station 14) has died in the Line of Duty early this morning. The Firefighter was killed in an apparatus wreck while responding to a mutual aid fire in Hampshire County, West Virginia around 4am.
One firefighter was killed, another is at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
We have already seen a name of the firefighter on Facebook but will not report it until it has been officially released.
Earlier, The Secret List reported:
We regret to advise you that a Firefighter with Gore (Frederick County, VA near Winchester) Volunteer Fire & Rescue was killed in the Line of Duty early this morning. Initial reports are that they were responding to a mutual fire in nearby West Virginia. One FF lost his life and another transported for evaluation.
A local paper, The Winchester Star, unable to confirm the death, just before 11:00 AM quoted The Secret List:
Frederick County Fire and Rescue officials would not confirm or deny the death, but when asked about it, said they are in the process of preparing a press release with more information.
According to firefighterclosecalls.com, — a website that deals with injury and death to firefighters — initial reports are that Gore Volunteer Fire Company was responding to a mutual aid fire in nearby West Virginia and crashed.
New information will be provided as it is available.
Also on STATter911 …
- Firefighter dad talks about crash that took son Zach Whitacre’s life. Donald Whitacre says he lost control of tanker on ice. – February 13, 2012
- Reminder: Funeral arrangements for Gore VF&RD Firefighter Zachary Whitacre. Note that the service is not private. – February 17, 2012
- Two funerals in Virginia: Firefighter Zachary Whitacre, Gore VF&RD & Paramedic Joshua Weissman, Alexandria FD. – February 15, 2012
- Live coverage: Funeral for Alexandria, Virginia Paramedic Joshua Weissman. Scheduled for 1:00 PM Eastern time. – February 16, 2012
Comments
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It is always so sad to lose a brother, and even more tragic when they are so young. May he RIP, and may his family find comfort in our Savior. I pray for his fellow firefighters and friends in their loss.
Am I reading this right, he was riding on the back of the truck?
While tragic, I have some questions. It said he was riding in/on the back. Where is there a spot to ride other than the tailboard? Why was he riding where he was instead of the cab?
It sounds preventable and that's the worst part.
if there was a spot to ride in the cab, what do you think the chances are that he would have been there?
That was my only question
Maybe its up to the department if they can ride the step and its not for us to judge.
WHAT? Maybe it's not our job to judge but if this kid was riding the tailboard alone in icy weather while the front "officer" seat was vacant, that's just completely unacceptable from a firefighting safety perspective. If their department allows this practice, then they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
I'm (just barely) old enough to remember a time about 25 years ago when many companies still rode the back step. But even at that time, it was always SOP that nobody rode back there alone, and the back step was not to be used if a jumpseat or cab position was still available.
It wasn't long after that all back step riding basically ended – for OBVIOUS safety reasons.
I guess you are not for 3/4 boots either?
It may be up to the department to allow it, but it takes a personal decision to engage in it. A decision that, given 2 people and 2 seats in the cab, is hard to come to rationally. It -IS- up to us to judge because if even one person hears this story and reads someone commenting about how stupid a decision that was and makes the personal decision to not engage in such a needlessly dangerous and reckless activity, then his death is not entirely in vain.
Thinking should not, and cannot, be limited to what an organization does or does not explicitly or implicitly allow.
Why on earth in this day in age are people still riding on the back of fire apparatus? NO EXCUSE!
To the members of the Gore Volunteer Fire & Rescue, i personally would like to offer my deepest sympathy on the passing of F.F. Zachary Whitacre who succumbs to injuries in the accident that occurred early this morning. May he rest in peace.
Yes, he should not have been back there, but the fact of the matter is that we have lost a fine young man who volunteered his time to the community. We can Monday morning quarterback all we want, but what has happened has happened. To his Dad–my heart and soul cry for you and your loss. I know you would have traded places in a minute. May God's peace be with you, your family, and all his fellow firemen and women.
Just checked my calendar…yep, it's 2012.
Unbelievable.
This is a terrible tragedy, but I have to echo everyone else's comments above…why on earth was he riding the step? I'm pretty sure the cab on that tanker has a bench seat, so plenty of room for at least two. The fire service did away with riding the step for a reason. Yeah, we all know how cool it looks, but it just isn't safe. Clearly a bad decision.
My prayers go out to the family of this young firefighter, as well as his department. RIP Brother.
RIP Zachary. My thoughts and prayers to your family and fellow Firefighters. I hope that the report of him riding "in" the back is wrong or that there is some other explanation. If he was riding the back step, that just adds to the tragedy.
It is too soon to judge at this point, instead of ridcule just say Sorry for your loss, RIP, etc.
The bottom line is the Fire service as a whole has lost a brother, the VA Fire service has lost 2 in the last week, a department has lost a brother, a family has lost there son.
There will be plenty of time for finger pointing, but for now save it for later.
RIP Brother, we will take it from here.
I cannot imagine the pain his father must feel. There is nothing anyone could say to him that will make him feel any better, I have driven a tanker with my son on board, BUT, he was safely belted in front with me. It is possible the kid jumped on and the driver didn't know he was back there, lets wait for the investigation beofre we add more pain to this man. We all know that riding the tailboard is a thing of the past, like not using SCBA, but it still happens today. Some can cry about the safety Nazi's but it sounds like we needed some of them at this scene.
What a shame,god bless his family and fellow firefighters. I can remember riding the step thousands of times and sometimes I did not know how I ended up with no injuries. I was glad when we purchased new engines and new laws were passed so at least we felt a little safer. Former Vol FF in PG county.
@Gil, I'm pretty sure the NFPA has made riding on the tailboard uber verboten, no matter what a department "allows". It's sad, this young firefighter died. It's even more sad that it sounds like his death was preventable.
FMCH did you happen to know that the N.F.P.A. makes recommendations and then compiles them in books to sell?
So, I'm pretty sure that department can "allow" whatever they wish.
Yes, NFPA guidelines are only recommendations but if you fail to comply and you happen to be sued for whatever reason they will take into account that you failed to follow the guidelines. Most of the time the department loses.
Like Mike said NFPA makes recommendations they do not make laws nor do they enforce them. Yes this should not have happen but they can make all the recommendations they want but firemen will still get hurt.
The NFPA makes recommendations and as you stated they are not "laws" or can they enforce them. However, they are legally recognized (as in court findings) as "industry standards", and violating them can be used against you.
Oh my God, how horrible for his Dad and his Mom. My heart breaks for them. May God hold them close under His sheltering wings. May this tragedy help them pull together and not apart.
For his fellow firefighters from the Gore Volunteer Fire Department, my prayers for your peace and comfort at this sad time.
Sad that we now must lay another of our Brothers to rest as their career was just beginning. Sadder that, from preliminary accounts, this sounded like something he could have walked away from if he was riding where he should have been. I loved the days of tailboard, 3/4 boots, blowing black sot out for a week from no SCBA usage and the other things we loved 'back in the day', but as the Fire Service grew, I realized that we weren't becoming 'wusses', but were more likely to live to a ripe old age. As we pray for those left behind, let us also pray that others will learn what we learned long ago.
This is tragic and i feal for the family, but can we please use this incident to educate people that this is the reason we now have enclosed cabs and should be in them. I mean no disrespect to the family or the department. I rarely comment on blogs but this tragedy was avoidable. In the words of Gordon Grahm "Predictable is Preventable", not only is this type incident predictable, these things happened in the past and caused changes in many standards and SOP's.
My thoughts and prayers to the family and the members of Gore VFD. I cannot imagine the pain they are feeling.
To the others who have made comments and declared the Gore VFD guilty of unsafe operations, you are basing your claims on very sketchy news reports, which if your read have the young man in one case being 21 and in the other 19 years old. Hopefuly you would not be judged on such sketchy and inaccurate information. Instead, why dont we wait for the police report or other reliable information source before getting out the tar and feathers?
Riding the tailboard is not an accepted practice in Frederick County. At this time it is unknown why he was back there. The operater was unaware that he had climbed on to travel the short distance to the fill site. Please wait until all the facts are released to critique the incident. As with all LODD's we should use this as a training tool but need to wait until all the facts are gathered
I agree , I think the focus at this point should be to support the father and other members of the GVFC as well as neighboring companies and the community. Blame isn't going to change anything. When all is said and done we can use this to learn from but for now allow the friends and family to grieve in peace.
Look here fellows, we don;t have all the facts yet on this tragic accident ok, let's not focus on that but let;s concentrate on remembering this fellow firefighter for doing a dangerous job to help another person. And let's not forget his family especially his father who drove the firetruck, how do u think he feel's right now, no one knows what he is going though right now and his company, finger pointing comes later, not now, ok. We need to keep our brothers in the fire service in prayers and support in this time of grief. I was a firefighter for over 28 years almost 20 in the career side, and i had to retire on disability due to lung trouble. I feel for any firefighter who loses's his life, in the line of duty, so stop the Monday morning quarterback play by play and save it for the next season of football not this.
OSHA will be working their "magic" on this one.
Godspeed Brother. I will reserve comment on the tailboard thing. I will admit one of the first things that came to my mind,,,, that the driver didn't know he was back there.
My condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of FF Zachary Whitacre.
My heart breaks for the father…I have many questions about this incident but will not point fingers, just yet.
RIP Brother.
Dave, be sure to keep us posted on this one as to where he actually was.