Two Texas firefighters die after fall from new aerial tower during training exercise. Drill was at Kilgore College dormitory.
Watch video from scene from KETK-TV.
Two firefighters from Kilgore, Texas died during a training exercise with the department’s new aerial tower. It happened at Stark Hall, a dormitory at Kilgore College. The campus is also home to Kilgore College Fire Academy.
While details are still a bit sketchy, the best information is that the two firefighters who were killed, 45-year-old Kyle Perkins of Kilgore and 28-year-old Cory Galloway of Grand Saline, were somehow thrown from the bucket of the rig as it was extended to the building.
Working the phones, Firefighter Nation’s Dave Iannone was able to get this from the Kilgore fire chief:
“They were down at the college doing a training exercise with a new e-One truck with a platform … and somehow they fell out of the bucket.” Kilgore Fire Chief Dennis Gage said. “I really haven’t been able to determine much more than that at this point.”
The AP has more details on the firefighters:
The firefighters were taken to a Longview hospital, where they died.
The two firefighters were identified as 45-year-old Kyle Perkins of Kilgore and 28-year-old Cory Galloway of Grand Saline. Perkins had been with the Kilgore Fire Department since July 2004 and Galloway joined the department in January 2008.
Two other Kilgore firefighters suffered minor injuries.
“They were both as good as gold,” said Dennis Gage, Kilgore Fire Department operations chief.
Perkins was married and had two children in college. He had organized a walk this spring to raise money for cancer research, sang in his church choir and enjoyed working in the fire prevention program for children. He was chosen as the “Firefighter of the Year” in 2008, Gage said.
“Kyle was a good fellow. He’d do anything for you,” he said. “He was a good community leader.”
Galloway commuted from about an hour away for his shifts with the 37-member department, Gage said.
“He’s energetic, a hard worker, always trying to learn,” he said.
Perkins, Galloway and other firefighters had been training getting on and off the building’s roof using a new retractable platform that has a bucket attached. The two men apparently fell out of the bucket, Gage said.
Two other Kilgore firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Kilgore police and fire departments were investigating the cause of the accident.
The Kilgore College Fire Academy on the campus offers certification for structural firefighters, volunteers and fire inspectors.
“We at Kilgore College are very saddened by the tragedy that took place today, and are keeping the victims and their families in our hearts and prayers, Craddock said in a statement.
Kilgore is about 120 miles east of Dallas.
