Mr. Tony Barker, age 36, of Hays passed away Thursday, June 13, 2013.
Funeral services will be held 2:00, Monday, June 17, 2013 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with the Rev. Rickie Triplett officiating. Burial will be in Dehart Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home from 5:00 until 7:00 Sunday evening.
Mr. Barker was born in Havre de Grace, MD on December 14, 1976, to Jerry and Judith Baker Barker.
He was a Mountain View Fire Fighter. Mr. Barker was a member of the Bootleg Racing Team and a member of the social committee at Phillip Van Hausen.
Mr. Barker is survived by his wife, Beth Gamble Barker of the home; one son, Eli Cameron Barker of the home; his parents, Jerry and Judith Barker of Ferguson; one sister, Virginia Dutton of Hays; three brothers, Gary Barker and wife, Lizzy, Stephan Barker all of Ferguson, Ricky Harper of Florida; grandparents, Clay and Edna Clark of Lenoir; nieces, Gabby & Erica Dutton; nephews, Tyler Dutton and Noah Cox.
Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Mtn. View Fire Department, PO Box 463, Hays, NC 28635.
WILKES COUNTY, N.C.–A volunteer firefighter and an elderly man were killed in Wilkes County Thursday afternoon after strong thunderstorms ripped through the area.
Authorities said Tony Barker, a member of the Mountain View Fire Department for a year and five months, was electrocuted at the scene of a small fire shortly after 3 p.m., after wind blew part of a large maple tree down across power lines behind Dale's Tire & Auto (formerly Absher's Garage) on Traphill Road near the Yellow Banks Road intersection.
A woman who lives near the scene said she saw Barker bending over as if to look more closely where flames were coming from beneath a small metal storage building behind the Dale's Tire & Auto building when he collapsed and she called for help. Other firefighters responded and pulled Barker away from the building.
Authorities said Barker was standing just to the left of the end of a metal storage building when he was electrocuted Thursday. Power lines fell on the building when wind blew part of a large tree on the power lines, behind the building.
Efforts by Mountain View Fire Department first responders and Wilkes Emergency Medical Services to revive Barker with CPR were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
Wilkes Fire Marshal Kevin Bounds and other emergency personnel reported that Barker was electrocuted without touching the building.
They said electricity from the power lines on the storage building moved through the building and unpaved ground to Barker. They said the ground was saturated with rainwater that accompanied the wind, which helped conduct electricity.
Mountain View Fire Chief Bill Johnson said Barker leaves behind a young wife and a 3-year-old son. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, dispatch received a report of a tree on a man along Mountain Valley Church Road in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire District.
Maurice Kilby, who turned 77 Tuesday, died when a large white pine tree fell on him in his yard, according to Mulberry-Fairplains Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricky Gambill.
Gambill said strong winds blew over both forks of the tree, and the larger fork fell on Kilby's abdomen and chest. Kilby's wife found him and called for help, but he was deceased when emergency personnel arrived, he said.
Daniel Lambert, his grandson and a captain in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Department, was among the first on the scene when the accident occurred.
Kilby was a longtime election official in the community and was part of a large family living in the area around Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
~~~~~~~~
In a service marked by the shrill but mournful sound of bagpipes and tradition, a Mountain View firefighter who died from exposure to high voltage electricity at a small fire in Hays Thursday was laid to rest Monday afternoon.
Representatives of all Wilkes County fire departments and others paid tribute to Tony Barker by taking fire trucks in the funeral procession from Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Chapel in North Wilkesboro to the Dehart Baptist Church cemetery in Hays, and by blocking traffic at intersections as the procession passed or by attending services.
Moravian Falls Fire Chief Kimi Hamby, primary organizer of the procession, said over 50 fire departments were represented in some way. Hamby said the brotherhood of firefighters was strengthened by the tragedy and that he believed it would have made Barker proud.
A fire truck that Barker had driven, stationed at Mountain View's substation in Dehart, carried the casket with his body as it led the procession. Barker, 36, had been a firefighter for a year and five months.
Arriving at the church parking lot, Mountain View firefighters on the lead fire truck picked up the casket and handed it to pallbearers, who carried it to the cemetery
Six kilt-clad firefighters from Asheville and Charlotte, standing on a nearby knoll in the cemetery, played "Amazing Grace" as pallbearers carried the casket between two lines of over 125 firefighters, all saluting, to it's final resting place.
During the graveside service, the Rev. Rickie Triplett spoke about the promise of reuniting with loved ones in heaven.
Barker's firefighter helmet, the U.S. flag that draped his casket and a fallen firefighter's flag were presented to his widow and 3-year-old son, Beth Barker and Eli Barker.
Firefighters' pagers went off as the Wilkes Communications Center in Wilkesboro paged Barker's number, 3153. A dispatcher then said for him over the radio, "10-42," which means tour of duty ended.
A mounted firehouse bell was rung nine times (three sets of rings with three rings in each set), which is a tradition symbolizing firefighters returning to the station after an emergency.
Joe Patrick, commander of the Wilkes Firefighter's Association Honor Guard, then called out, "Pipers, pipe our brother home!" The six men in kilts responded by piping "Going Home."
Members of similar firefighter honor guards in Ashe and Alleghany counties were involved in the service.
Firefighters from Charlotte, Forest City, High Point and Skyland who are members of the N.C. Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NCFFF) assisted Monday.
One member, Shane Allred, stood by and assisted Mrs. Barker during the graveside service. Others helped by providing guidance on traditional services for a firefighter who died during the line of duty.
Another of the NCFFF representatives present, Bill Strain of Charlotte, said he attends many such services to offer the perspective of a parent whose son died while serving in the line of duty as a firefighter.
"My wife and I can go to the family and say we know how you feel. We were given so much in 2000 after our son died and this is a way to give back," said Strain. "I am honoring our firefighters and honoring our son."
Barker's name, like names of other firefighters who died in the line of duty, will be placed on a monument in Nash Square in downtown Raleigh and on another monument where the NCFFF is based in Emmittsburg, Md.
[Wednesday, June 19, 2013 2:00 pm, Jule Hubbard]
Funeral services will be held 2:00, Monday, June 17, 2013 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with the Rev. Rickie Triplett officiating. Burial will be in Dehart Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home from 5:00 until 7:00 Sunday evening.
Mr. Barker was born in Havre de Grace, MD on December 14, 1976, to Jerry and Judith Baker Barker.
He was a Mountain View Fire Fighter. Mr. Barker was a member of the Bootleg Racing Team and a member of the social committee at Phillip Van Hausen.
Mr. Barker is survived by his wife, Beth Gamble Barker of the home; one son, Eli Cameron Barker of the home; his parents, Jerry and Judith Barker of Ferguson; one sister, Virginia Dutton of Hays; three brothers, Gary Barker and wife, Lizzy, Stephan Barker all of Ferguson, Ricky Harper of Florida; grandparents, Clay and Edna Clark of Lenoir; nieces, Gabby & Erica Dutton; nephews, Tyler Dutton and Noah Cox.
Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Mtn. View Fire Department, PO Box 463, Hays, NC 28635.
WILKES COUNTY, N.C.–A volunteer firefighter and an elderly man were killed in Wilkes County Thursday afternoon after strong thunderstorms ripped through the area.
Authorities said Tony Barker, a member of the Mountain View Fire Department for a year and five months, was electrocuted at the scene of a small fire shortly after 3 p.m., after wind blew part of a large maple tree down across power lines behind Dale's Tire & Auto (formerly Absher's Garage) on Traphill Road near the Yellow Banks Road intersection.
A woman who lives near the scene said she saw Barker bending over as if to look more closely where flames were coming from beneath a small metal storage building behind the Dale's Tire & Auto building when he collapsed and she called for help. Other firefighters responded and pulled Barker away from the building.
Authorities said Barker was standing just to the left of the end of a metal storage building when he was electrocuted Thursday. Power lines fell on the building when wind blew part of a large tree on the power lines, behind the building.
Efforts by Mountain View Fire Department first responders and Wilkes Emergency Medical Services to revive Barker with CPR were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
Wilkes Fire Marshal Kevin Bounds and other emergency personnel reported that Barker was electrocuted without touching the building.
They said electricity from the power lines on the storage building moved through the building and unpaved ground to Barker. They said the ground was saturated with rainwater that accompanied the wind, which helped conduct electricity.
Mountain View Fire Chief Bill Johnson said Barker leaves behind a young wife and a 3-year-old son. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, dispatch received a report of a tree on a man along Mountain Valley Church Road in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire District.
Maurice Kilby, who turned 77 Tuesday, died when a large white pine tree fell on him in his yard, according to Mulberry-Fairplains Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricky Gambill.
Gambill said strong winds blew over both forks of the tree, and the larger fork fell on Kilby's abdomen and chest. Kilby's wife found him and called for help, but he was deceased when emergency personnel arrived, he said.
Daniel Lambert, his grandson and a captain in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Department, was among the first on the scene when the accident occurred.
Kilby was a longtime election official in the community and was part of a large family living in the area around Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
~~~~~~~~
In a service marked by the shrill but mournful sound of bagpipes and tradition, a Mountain View firefighter who died from exposure to high voltage electricity at a small fire in Hays Thursday was laid to rest Monday afternoon.
Representatives of all Wilkes County fire departments and others paid tribute to Tony Barker by taking fire trucks in the funeral procession from Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Chapel in North Wilkesboro to the Dehart Baptist Church cemetery in Hays, and by blocking traffic at intersections as the procession passed or by attending services.
Moravian Falls Fire Chief Kimi Hamby, primary organizer of the procession, said over 50 fire departments were represented in some way. Hamby said the brotherhood of firefighters was strengthened by the tragedy and that he believed it would have made Barker proud.
A fire truck that Barker had driven, stationed at Mountain View's substation in Dehart, carried the casket with his body as it led the procession. Barker, 36, had been a firefighter for a year and five months.
Arriving at the church parking lot, Mountain View firefighters on the lead fire truck picked up the casket and handed it to pallbearers, who carried it to the cemetery
Six kilt-clad firefighters from Asheville and Charlotte, standing on a nearby knoll in the cemetery, played "Amazing Grace" as pallbearers carried the casket between two lines of over 125 firefighters, all saluting, to it's final resting place.
During the graveside service, the Rev. Rickie Triplett spoke about the promise of reuniting with loved ones in heaven.
Barker's firefighter helmet, the U.S. flag that draped his casket and a fallen firefighter's flag were presented to his widow and 3-year-old son, Beth Barker and Eli Barker.
Firefighters' pagers went off as the Wilkes Communications Center in Wilkesboro paged Barker's number, 3153. A dispatcher then said for him over the radio, "10-42," which means tour of duty ended.
A mounted firehouse bell was rung nine times (three sets of rings with three rings in each set), which is a tradition symbolizing firefighters returning to the station after an emergency.
Joe Patrick, commander of the Wilkes Firefighter's Association Honor Guard, then called out, "Pipers, pipe our brother home!" The six men in kilts responded by piping "Going Home."
Members of similar firefighter honor guards in Ashe and Alleghany counties were involved in the service.
Firefighters from Charlotte, Forest City, High Point and Skyland who are members of the N.C. Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NCFFF) assisted Monday.
One member, Shane Allred, stood by and assisted Mrs. Barker during the graveside service. Others helped by providing guidance on traditional services for a firefighter who died during the line of duty.
Another of the NCFFF representatives present, Bill Strain of Charlotte, said he attends many such services to offer the perspective of a parent whose son died while serving in the line of duty as a firefighter.
"My wife and I can go to the family and say we know how you feel. We were given so much in 2000 after our son died and this is a way to give back," said Strain. "I am honoring our firefighters and honoring our son."
Barker's name, like names of other firefighters who died in the line of duty, will be placed on a monument in Nash Square in downtown Raleigh and on another monument where the NCFFF is based in Emmittsburg, Md.
[Wednesday, June 19, 2013 2:00 pm, Jule Hubbard]
Mr. Tony Barker, age 36, of Hays passed away Thursday, June 13, 2013.
Funeral services will be held 2:00, Monday, June 17, 2013 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with the Rev. Rickie Triplett officiating. Burial will be in Dehart Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home from 5:00 until 7:00 Sunday evening.
Mr. Barker was born in Havre de Grace, MD on December 14, 1976, to Jerry and Judith Baker Barker.
He was a Mountain View Fire Fighter. Mr. Barker was a member of the Bootleg Racing Team and a member of the social committee at Phillip Van Hausen.
Mr. Barker is survived by his wife, Beth Gamble Barker of the home; one son, Eli Cameron Barker of the home; his parents, Jerry and Judith Barker of Ferguson; one sister, Virginia Dutton of Hays; three brothers, Gary Barker and wife, Lizzy, Stephan Barker all of Ferguson, Ricky Harper of Florida; grandparents, Clay and Edna Clark of Lenoir; nieces, Gabby & Erica Dutton; nephews, Tyler Dutton and Noah Cox.
Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Mtn. View Fire Department, PO Box 463, Hays, NC 28635.
WILKES COUNTY, N.C.–A volunteer firefighter and an elderly man were killed in Wilkes County Thursday afternoon after strong thunderstorms ripped through the area.
Authorities said Tony Barker, a member of the Mountain View Fire Department for a year and five months, was electrocuted at the scene of a small fire shortly after 3 p.m., after wind blew part of a large maple tree down across power lines behind Dale's Tire & Auto (formerly Absher's Garage) on Traphill Road near the Yellow Banks Road intersection.
A woman who lives near the scene said she saw Barker bending over as if to look more closely where flames were coming from beneath a small metal storage building behind the Dale's Tire & Auto building when he collapsed and she called for help. Other firefighters responded and pulled Barker away from the building.
Authorities said Barker was standing just to the left of the end of a metal storage building when he was electrocuted Thursday. Power lines fell on the building when wind blew part of a large tree on the power lines, behind the building.
Efforts by Mountain View Fire Department first responders and Wilkes Emergency Medical Services to revive Barker with CPR were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
Wilkes Fire Marshal Kevin Bounds and other emergency personnel reported that Barker was electrocuted without touching the building.
They said electricity from the power lines on the storage building moved through the building and unpaved ground to Barker. They said the ground was saturated with rainwater that accompanied the wind, which helped conduct electricity.
Mountain View Fire Chief Bill Johnson said Barker leaves behind a young wife and a 3-year-old son. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, dispatch received a report of a tree on a man along Mountain Valley Church Road in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire District.
Maurice Kilby, who turned 77 Tuesday, died when a large white pine tree fell on him in his yard, according to Mulberry-Fairplains Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricky Gambill.
Gambill said strong winds blew over both forks of the tree, and the larger fork fell on Kilby's abdomen and chest. Kilby's wife found him and called for help, but he was deceased when emergency personnel arrived, he said.
Daniel Lambert, his grandson and a captain in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Department, was among the first on the scene when the accident occurred.
Kilby was a longtime election official in the community and was part of a large family living in the area around Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
~~~~~~~~
In a service marked by the shrill but mournful sound of bagpipes and tradition, a Mountain View firefighter who died from exposure to high voltage electricity at a small fire in Hays Thursday was laid to rest Monday afternoon.
Representatives of all Wilkes County fire departments and others paid tribute to Tony Barker by taking fire trucks in the funeral procession from Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Chapel in North Wilkesboro to the Dehart Baptist Church cemetery in Hays, and by blocking traffic at intersections as the procession passed or by attending services.
Moravian Falls Fire Chief Kimi Hamby, primary organizer of the procession, said over 50 fire departments were represented in some way. Hamby said the brotherhood of firefighters was strengthened by the tragedy and that he believed it would have made Barker proud.
A fire truck that Barker had driven, stationed at Mountain View's substation in Dehart, carried the casket with his body as it led the procession. Barker, 36, had been a firefighter for a year and five months.
Arriving at the church parking lot, Mountain View firefighters on the lead fire truck picked up the casket and handed it to pallbearers, who carried it to the cemetery
Six kilt-clad firefighters from Asheville and Charlotte, standing on a nearby knoll in the cemetery, played "Amazing Grace" as pallbearers carried the casket between two lines of over 125 firefighters, all saluting, to it's final resting place.
During the graveside service, the Rev. Rickie Triplett spoke about the promise of reuniting with loved ones in heaven.
Barker's firefighter helmet, the U.S. flag that draped his casket and a fallen firefighter's flag were presented to his widow and 3-year-old son, Beth Barker and Eli Barker.
Firefighters' pagers went off as the Wilkes Communications Center in Wilkesboro paged Barker's number, 3153. A dispatcher then said for him over the radio, "10-42," which means tour of duty ended.
A mounted firehouse bell was rung nine times (three sets of rings with three rings in each set), which is a tradition symbolizing firefighters returning to the station after an emergency.
Joe Patrick, commander of the Wilkes Firefighter's Association Honor Guard, then called out, "Pipers, pipe our brother home!" The six men in kilts responded by piping "Going Home."
Members of similar firefighter honor guards in Ashe and Alleghany counties were involved in the service.
Firefighters from Charlotte, Forest City, High Point and Skyland who are members of the N.C. Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NCFFF) assisted Monday.
One member, Shane Allred, stood by and assisted Mrs. Barker during the graveside service. Others helped by providing guidance on traditional services for a firefighter who died during the line of duty.
Another of the NCFFF representatives present, Bill Strain of Charlotte, said he attends many such services to offer the perspective of a parent whose son died while serving in the line of duty as a firefighter.
"My wife and I can go to the family and say we know how you feel. We were given so much in 2000 after our son died and this is a way to give back," said Strain. "I am honoring our firefighters and honoring our son."
Barker's name, like names of other firefighters who died in the line of duty, will be placed on a monument in Nash Square in downtown Raleigh and on another monument where the NCFFF is based in Emmittsburg, Md.
[Wednesday, June 19, 2013 2:00 pm, Jule Hubbard]
Funeral services will be held 2:00, Monday, June 17, 2013 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with the Rev. Rickie Triplett officiating. Burial will be in Dehart Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home from 5:00 until 7:00 Sunday evening.
Mr. Barker was born in Havre de Grace, MD on December 14, 1976, to Jerry and Judith Baker Barker.
He was a Mountain View Fire Fighter. Mr. Barker was a member of the Bootleg Racing Team and a member of the social committee at Phillip Van Hausen.
Mr. Barker is survived by his wife, Beth Gamble Barker of the home; one son, Eli Cameron Barker of the home; his parents, Jerry and Judith Barker of Ferguson; one sister, Virginia Dutton of Hays; three brothers, Gary Barker and wife, Lizzy, Stephan Barker all of Ferguson, Ricky Harper of Florida; grandparents, Clay and Edna Clark of Lenoir; nieces, Gabby & Erica Dutton; nephews, Tyler Dutton and Noah Cox.
Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Mtn. View Fire Department, PO Box 463, Hays, NC 28635.
WILKES COUNTY, N.C.–A volunteer firefighter and an elderly man were killed in Wilkes County Thursday afternoon after strong thunderstorms ripped through the area.
Authorities said Tony Barker, a member of the Mountain View Fire Department for a year and five months, was electrocuted at the scene of a small fire shortly after 3 p.m., after wind blew part of a large maple tree down across power lines behind Dale's Tire & Auto (formerly Absher's Garage) on Traphill Road near the Yellow Banks Road intersection.
A woman who lives near the scene said she saw Barker bending over as if to look more closely where flames were coming from beneath a small metal storage building behind the Dale's Tire & Auto building when he collapsed and she called for help. Other firefighters responded and pulled Barker away from the building.
Authorities said Barker was standing just to the left of the end of a metal storage building when he was electrocuted Thursday. Power lines fell on the building when wind blew part of a large tree on the power lines, behind the building.
Efforts by Mountain View Fire Department first responders and Wilkes Emergency Medical Services to revive Barker with CPR were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
Wilkes Fire Marshal Kevin Bounds and other emergency personnel reported that Barker was electrocuted without touching the building.
They said electricity from the power lines on the storage building moved through the building and unpaved ground to Barker. They said the ground was saturated with rainwater that accompanied the wind, which helped conduct electricity.
Mountain View Fire Chief Bill Johnson said Barker leaves behind a young wife and a 3-year-old son. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, dispatch received a report of a tree on a man along Mountain Valley Church Road in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire District.
Maurice Kilby, who turned 77 Tuesday, died when a large white pine tree fell on him in his yard, according to Mulberry-Fairplains Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricky Gambill.
Gambill said strong winds blew over both forks of the tree, and the larger fork fell on Kilby's abdomen and chest. Kilby's wife found him and called for help, but he was deceased when emergency personnel arrived, he said.
Daniel Lambert, his grandson and a captain in the Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Department, was among the first on the scene when the accident occurred.
Kilby was a longtime election official in the community and was part of a large family living in the area around Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
~~~~~~~~
In a service marked by the shrill but mournful sound of bagpipes and tradition, a Mountain View firefighter who died from exposure to high voltage electricity at a small fire in Hays Thursday was laid to rest Monday afternoon.
Representatives of all Wilkes County fire departments and others paid tribute to Tony Barker by taking fire trucks in the funeral procession from Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Chapel in North Wilkesboro to the Dehart Baptist Church cemetery in Hays, and by blocking traffic at intersections as the procession passed or by attending services.
Moravian Falls Fire Chief Kimi Hamby, primary organizer of the procession, said over 50 fire departments were represented in some way. Hamby said the brotherhood of firefighters was strengthened by the tragedy and that he believed it would have made Barker proud.
A fire truck that Barker had driven, stationed at Mountain View's substation in Dehart, carried the casket with his body as it led the procession. Barker, 36, had been a firefighter for a year and five months.
Arriving at the church parking lot, Mountain View firefighters on the lead fire truck picked up the casket and handed it to pallbearers, who carried it to the cemetery
Six kilt-clad firefighters from Asheville and Charlotte, standing on a nearby knoll in the cemetery, played "Amazing Grace" as pallbearers carried the casket between two lines of over 125 firefighters, all saluting, to it's final resting place.
During the graveside service, the Rev. Rickie Triplett spoke about the promise of reuniting with loved ones in heaven.
Barker's firefighter helmet, the U.S. flag that draped his casket and a fallen firefighter's flag were presented to his widow and 3-year-old son, Beth Barker and Eli Barker.
Firefighters' pagers went off as the Wilkes Communications Center in Wilkesboro paged Barker's number, 3153. A dispatcher then said for him over the radio, "10-42," which means tour of duty ended.
A mounted firehouse bell was rung nine times (three sets of rings with three rings in each set), which is a tradition symbolizing firefighters returning to the station after an emergency.
Joe Patrick, commander of the Wilkes Firefighter's Association Honor Guard, then called out, "Pipers, pipe our brother home!" The six men in kilts responded by piping "Going Home."
Members of similar firefighter honor guards in Ashe and Alleghany counties were involved in the service.
Firefighters from Charlotte, Forest City, High Point and Skyland who are members of the N.C. Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NCFFF) assisted Monday.
One member, Shane Allred, stood by and assisted Mrs. Barker during the graveside service. Others helped by providing guidance on traditional services for a firefighter who died during the line of duty.
Another of the NCFFF representatives present, Bill Strain of Charlotte, said he attends many such services to offer the perspective of a parent whose son died while serving in the line of duty as a firefighter.
"My wife and I can go to the family and say we know how you feel. We were given so much in 2000 after our son died and this is a way to give back," said Strain. "I am honoring our firefighters and honoring our son."
Barker's name, like names of other firefighters who died in the line of duty, will be placed on a monument in Nash Square in downtown Raleigh and on another monument where the NCFFF is based in Emmittsburg, Md.
[Wednesday, June 19, 2013 2:00 pm, Jule Hubbard]
