2004 Line Of Duty Deaths

1 Michigan 0.85%

4 Missouri 3.41%

2 Mississippi 1.70%

2004 Line Of Duty Deaths

Leslie W. Gant, Jr.

• Winslow Township Fire Dept.

• Sicklerville, New Jersey

• 1/8/2004 

• Lieutenant Gant had returned to the station after working an accident scene on the Atlantic City Expressway. At the station he complained of dizziness and left to rest at home. His family later took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having suffered a stroke from which he passed away four days later.

Richard Allen Jones

• Maryland Line Fire Protective Association, Inc.

Derrick T. Harvey

• Philadelphia Fire Department

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• 1/15/2004

• Lieutenant Harvey was seriously injured and burned when he fell through the first floor of a residential structure and was left hanging from the joists over the basement where the fire originated. Other companies initiated rescue efforts and extricated Lt. Derrick from the row house. He was transported to Albert Einstein Medical Center via PFD Medic Unit then transferred to Temple University Hospital Burn Unit where he died from injuries received. The Philadelphia Fire Department Fire Marshall has determined the cause of the fire to be combustibles too close to a fixed heater.

Raymond L. Peterman

• Los Angeles Fire Department

• California

• 1/17/2004

• Heart attack at brush fire.

Charles ‘Charlie’ T. Hatch, Jr.

• West Bridgewater Fire Dept.

• West Bridgewater, Massachusetts

• 1/21/2004

Keith Alan Firment

• Marguerite Volunteer Fire Co.

• Latrobe, Pennsylvania

• 1/22/2004 

• After returning from a structure fire, Captain Firment became ill at home and was taken to the hospital where he died of an apparent heart attack.

Kevin M. Shea

• Elsmere Fire Department

• Elsmere, New York

• 1/24/2004 

• Chief Shea collapsed at the firehouse after returning from an alarm at a local nursing home and subsequently passed away of an apparent heart attack.  

David Andrew Mackie

• Orange City Fire Department

• Orange City, Florida

• 1/27/2004 

• Aortic Valve Stenosis while in training.

Jean L. Nuckols

• Norfolk, Virginia

• 1/31/2004 

• Firefighter Nuckols died while on-duty at the firehouse of a cause still to be determined.

Michael E. Lynch

• Penrose Volunteer Fire Dept.

• Penrose, Colorado

• 2/3/2004

• On February 3, 2004 at 1742hrs, the Penrose Volunteer Fire Department was working the scene of a roll-over motor vehicle crash with injuries on Highway 50 near Highway 115. While directing traffic at the scene, Firefighter Lynch was struck by an automobile. While enroute to St. Thomas Moore Hospital in Canon City, Firefighter Lynch died from the injuries he sustained.

Glenn Galderisi

• Wayne, New Jersey

• 2/4/2004 

• Firefighter Galderisi died from an apparent heart attack in Fire Company 3's firehouse after re-packing fire hose that shifted during his earlier response to false alarm.  

Brenda D. Cowan

• Lexington Fire Department

• Lexington, Kentucky

• 2/13/2004

• Lt. Cowan was hit and killed by gunfire while responding to an emergency medical assistance call.  

Robert E. ’Bobby’ Heminger

• Wood River, Nebraska

• 2/15/2004 

• Captains Heminger and Woitalewicz died as a result of injuries sustained while searching a burning residence for an occupant when the roof collapsed trapping them.

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Heatherman

• Brisben Fire Department

• Brisben, New York

• 2/16/2004 

• Fire Police Captain Heatherman had returned to the station following a call mutual aid fire call and complained about not feeling well and was returning home to rest. Approximately an hour later Heatherman’s wife called 911 because he was having a heart attack. Attempts by emergency medical personnel to revive Hetherman failed and he was pronounced dead at Wilson Memorial Regional Medical Center a short time later.