This day in 2007 started out as any other, yet early in the day it would change and then quickly change again. I was working that day and remember hearing of a LODD in Northern Virginia. Just as I began looking for news on the Line of Duty Death, we heard of a shooting at Virginia Tech. VT is 45 minutes from Roanoke, we ended up sending an ambulance and our Rescue Supervisor to the scene. In the end, it would be the deadliest shooting on US soil, and the LODD would be unfortunately kept from the main stream media.
Kyle Wilson was his name. His name resonates across Virginia and beyond. He has not been forgotten. Even though the main stream media missed the story due to the shootings at Virginia Tech, the fire service did not miss it. As a matter of fact, the news of Kyle Wilson’s death was one of the most read stories on VAFireNews.com at the time.
Unfortunately, the original pages for both Kyle Wilson’s death and the VT shootings were lost when we updated the site several years ago.
I have dug out some of the photos of the day and shared them here.
STATter911.com also has a story on Kyle Wilson here.
Other links:
Read Prince William County report into the death of Firefighter Wilson
Mike Ward at Firegeezer on the fire service impact of Kyle Wilson’s death
Fifth Annual Kyle Wilson 10K Walk for Fitness
Kyle Wilson’s death led to many changes how we fight fire, identify hazards, and understand building construction and fire spread.
Virginia Tech Massacre
We also remember the 32 victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre not including the gunman who also killed himself.
More information on the shootings are here
The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, Blacksburg FD, Christiansburg Rescue Squad and Fire Departments responded as well as many other departments. They rose above the incident of the day and were able to handle it successfully. Lest we forget about all of the law enforcement there that day who also responded to this heinous act!
The VT massacre led to massive changes in the way campus’ are alerted to incidents.
We Remember
- Ross A. Alameddine
- Christopher James Bishop
- Brian R. Bluhm
- Ryan Christopher Clark
- Austin Michelle Cloyd
- Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
- Kevin P. Granata
- Matthew Gregory Gwaltney
- Caitlin Millar Hammaren
- Jeremy Michael Herbstritt
- Rachael Elizabeth Hill
- Emily Jane Hilscher
- Jarrett Lee Lane
- Matthew Joseph La Porte
- Henry J. Lee
- Liviu Librescu
- G.V. Loganathan
- Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan
- Lauren Ashley McCain
- Daniel Patrick O’Neil
- Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz
- Minal Hiralal Panchal
- Daniel Alejandro Perez Cueva
- Erin Nicole Peterson
- Michael Steven Pohle, Jr.
- Julia Kathleen Pryde
- Mary Karen Read
- Reema Joseph Samaha
- Waleed Mohamed Shaalan
- Leslie Geraldine Sherman
- Maxine Shelly Turner
- Nicole Regina White
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