Looking back at the line of duty death of Fayetteville Fire Department Engineer David C. Sharp II on Friday, March 17, 2000.

Sharp died after the 1993 Pierce Arrow aerial tower he was driving was struck by a train at the Cumberland Street grade crossing between Orange and Ramsey streets, while returning from an automatic fire alarm. He was the lone occupant of the apparatus.

When Sharp arrived at the gated crossing, the crossing gate was down due to a freight train that had passed and had stopped just past the crossing. The last car of the train was sitting just north of the intersection, and the crossing gate remained down.

The freight train’s position also obscured Sharp’s view of the tracks to the north, and acted as a barrier against any sound made by a second train approaching from the north, which is what happened on that day.

Stopped Trains Near Crossing Were Common

This practice of freight trains stopping for extended periods of time in proximity to crossing gates was common and was well-known to those who lived and worked in Fayetteville, including Sharp.

After waiting for an extended period of time, Sharp apparently believed the gate was remaining lowered only because of the stopped freight train.

Because he was alone in the apparatus, he was prohibited by policy from operating the truck in reverse, e.g. backing away from the crossing and taking an alternate route.

As Sharp proceeded to cross the tracks, his ladder truck was struck by an oncoming Amtrak passenger train, whose approach was obscured by the stopped freight train.

Apparatus Struck on Driver’s Side

The southbound Silver Palm–with 174 passengers and 15 crew members, and bound from New York to Miami–struck the apparatus broadside on the driver’s side.

The impact pushed the apparatus off of the roadway and into a ditch. Sharp was ejected from the apparatus.

The train remained on the rails and stopped about a city block away. The collision occurred about a mile from the downtown train station.

Sharp, 31, was a twelve-year veteran of the Fayetteville FD. His surviving wife was pregnant with their first child. His obituary text is below.

Funeral Attended by Hundreds

Hundreds of firefighters, police officers, and paramedics from Fayetteville and surrounding communities–including some from as far away as Canada–attended his funeral on Tuesday, March 21, 2000, at Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen.

Sharp’s family subsequently sued the railroad company. The suit was settled in 2004.

He was operating Truck 1, a 1993 Pierce Arrow aerial platform, 1500/200/100′, that had been acquired from Bonnie Doone VFD, when the department merged with the city in 1998.

This occurred at a time when some ladder trucks responded without a full crew. As readers recall, back in the eighties, Ladder 1 and Ladder 2 responded on commercial fires, hospital fire alarms, etc., with just a driver. And these responses were rare. 

Sources

• Associated Press stories, assorted
• FindLaw – Sharp vs. CSX Transportation Inc CSX (2003)
• Legeros Fire Line on Facebook – August 21, 2020
• WRAL – Hundreds Attend Fallen Firefighter – August 3, 2006

Obituary 

From the Sanford Herald on March 19, 2000.

DAVID C. SHARP II

ABERDEEN — David C. Sharp II, 31, of Aberdeen, died Friday (3/17/00) from injuries sustained in an auto accident.

Born in Petersburg, Va., he graduated from Pinecrest High School in 1986. He joined the Crestline Volunteer Fire Department in 1984 and later joined the City of Fayetteville Fire Department in 1988 as a firefighter/EMT with Station No. 1.

He was a member of the HAZ-MAT Response Team, and he worked with Containment Control Company of Fayetteville, where he assisted in the Oklahoma tornado disaster in HAZ-MAT clean up. He recently helped during the flooding in eastern North Carolina.

He also was employed with FirstHealth Critical Care Transport in Pinehurst and enjoyed the game of golf.

Funeral will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bethesda Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow in Bethesda Cemetery.

Surviving are his wife, Dawn D. Sharp; mother, Margaret M. Sharp of Aberdeen; brother, Stewart Allen of Chesterfield, Va.; and sister, Cookie Crowley of Aberdeen.

The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at Boles Funeral Home in Pinehurst.

Memorials may be made to Sandhills Children Center, 1280 Central Drive, Southern Pines, N.C. 28387.