LODD: Jr.FF Alethea Nixon, 17, Alabama

[Guest hoss]

May our sister FF rest in peace. May her loved ones find the strength to carry on after this tragic loss at such a young age. BTW, one of the 2 critically injured FFs is her brother Chris Nixon.

Nixon, Alethea Faye 

Age: 17 

Cause of Death: Vehicle Collision 

Rank: Junior Firefighter 

Nature of Death: Unknown 

Classification: Volunteer 

Emergency Duty: Yes   

Incident Date: 07/26/2006 

Duty Type: Responding 

Incident Time: 19:15 

Activity Type: Riding Vehicle/Apparatus 

Death Date: 07/26/2006 

Fixed Prop. Use: Street/Road 

Fire Dept. Info:

Asbury Volunteer Fire Department

2142 Asbury Rd.

Albertville , Alabama  35951

Chief: Albert Childress

  

Initial Summary:   

Firefighter Nixon died from injuries sustained when the tanker truck she was riding in enroute to a fire went off of a narrow one-lane bridge.

Two other firefighters were critically injured.   

Memorial Fund Info: Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Donations may be made at any AmSouth Bank branch (www.amsouth.com) to the Asbury Firefighters Memorial Trust Fund. Funeral Arrangements: Pending, details will be posted at: http://www.asburyfire.com/ 

USFA

Teen firefighter was 'go-getter'

Official hopes wreck spurs safety changes at bridges

Friday, July 28, 2006

By STEVE CAMPBELL

Times Staff Writer eintern@htimes.com

The Hunstville Times

ASBURY - This Marshall County community is mourning the death of a 17-year-old junior volunteer firefighter who was killed Wednesday night when a firetruck answering an alarm lost its brakes, smashed through the railing of a single-lane bridge and tumbled into a creek.

Alethea Faye Nixon was killed when the truck tumbled over the first of two Red Mill bridges between Asbury and Albertville about 7 p.m. Three other firefighters, including Nixon's older brother, were injured.

"She was a super nice girl who loved excitement, a real go-getter," said Albert Childress, chief of the Asbury Volunteer Fire Department. "It was such an awful thing to happen to such a great girl. Everybody loved her."

Childress said the truck was answering a call to a house fire in Alder Springs when the brakes failed. He said the driver, Michael Parr, prevented the truck from running off the narrow, winding road that leads to the bridge.

But once on the bridge, the speeding truck's momentum - increased by 2,000 gallons of water - caused it to crush the bridge's metal guardrail and fall into the creek about 30 feet below, Childress said.

Nixon's 21-year-old brother, Chris, was taken to University Hospital in Birmingham. Childress said Chris Nixon had a broken back and second-degree burns from fire fueled by the vehicle's spilled motor oil. He said Parr also was burned. The condition of the fourth passenger, 21-year-old Chris Graves, was not immediately available.

Alethea Nixon was helping the Asbury VFD as part of its junior firefighter program, Childress said, adding that chasing fires was one of the high-octane activities that reflected her personality.

Cari Minor, 14, a longtime friend of Nixon's, said she was an outgoing person "you just couldn't help but love."

The bridges are on Martling Road about seven miles south of Alabama 227. Only one vehicle at a time can cross the bridges, although the S-shaped road is two lanes. A driver on one end signals to another car before crossing, hoping to avoid a head-on collision. On the north end, an old red mill obstructs drivers' view.

The bridges opened in the 1950s and haven't been renovated except for the steel railing, Childress said.

Tim Bollinger, the Marshall County commissioner who represents the area, has lobbied for federal money to replace the bridges. He's been granted $2 million, but local engineers peg the project's cost at $6 million, he said.

Bollinger said the bridges simply aren't safe for the packed school buses and the hundreds of cars that cross them daily.

"I'll bet there's not anywhere in Alabama with that many cars going through a bottleneck place like that," Bollinger said.

He said the accident may change that.

"Hopefully, this will get us the $4 million we need to get this built," he said.

Edited July 28, 2006 by hoss