{"id":7337,"date":"2023-04-18T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T19:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=7337"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:57:21","slug":"ncfff-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/ncfff-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony &#8211; May 13, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023-04-ncfff.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7338\" src=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023-04-ncfff.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023-04-ncfff.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023-04-ncfff-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023-04-ncfff-730x383.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, May 13, 2023, the following names will be added to the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the annual ceremony in downtown Raleigh. See below for narratives and notes about each member and how they died.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Richard S. Aman &#8211; Piney Grove &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Charles Barnett &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1891 (not shown)<\/li>\n<li>Perry Barnett &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1891 (not shown)<\/li>\n<li>Thurman C. Bishop &#8211; Fayetteville &#8211; 1983<\/li>\n<li>Willie L. Bunch &#8211; Oak City &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Gary G. Butner &#8211; Gumtree &#8211; 2022<\/li>\n<li>Kenneth K. Cameron &#8211; Pocket &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Michael D. Canada &#8211; Bear Grass &#8211; 2020<\/li>\n<li>Arthur Duckett &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1966<\/li>\n<li>Gregory K. Faulk &#8211; Ocean Isle Beach &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Samuel L. Gorman &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1891 (not shown)<\/li>\n<li>James D. Hensley &#8211; Brendletown &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Keith Jones &#8211; Shiloh-Danieltown Oakland &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>June McNeil, Jr &#8211; Pine Terrace &#8211; 2022<\/li>\n<li>James Radford &#8211; Polly Watson &#8211; 2022<\/li>\n<li>Benjamin H. Smith &#8211; Edenton &#8211; 1947 (not shown)<\/li>\n<li>Charles W. Spry &#8211; La Grange &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>William D. Stalls &#8211; Oak City &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>John R. Stroup &#8211; Salem &#8211; 2022<\/li>\n<li>Clinton L. Whitley &#8211; Ferrells &#8211; 2021<\/li>\n<li>Harry Williams &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1944<\/li>\n<li>Grady D. Wilson &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1948<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/ncfff.org\/memorial\/annual-memorial\">ncfff.org\/memorial\/annual-memorial<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Narratives and Notes<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Richard Spicer Aman, 80<\/strong><br \/>\nPiney Grove (Sampson)<br \/>\n10\/07\/2021<br \/>\nAman was a volunteer member of PGFD for 29 years and had served as Chief of Department for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Charles D. Barnett, 24<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n8\/27\/1891<br \/>\nVolunteer firefighters Charles Barnett, Perry Barnett, and Samuel Gorman were killed, when their passenger car derailed just outside Asheville. They were returning from the state fireman&#8217;s convention in Durham. Three other AFD members were also aboard and were injured. Charles Barnett and Perry Barnett were brothers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Henry Perry &#8220;Perry&#8221; Barnett Jr., 27<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n8\/27\/1891<br \/>\nSee Charles Barnett.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thurman C. Bishop, 62<\/strong><br \/>\nFayetteville<br \/>\n04\/10\/1983<br \/>\nBishop suffered a heart attack while exercising in front of Central Fire Station.\u00a0He entered the department in 1947 and had served as Chief of Department for 20 years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Willie Lee Bunch, 58<\/strong><br \/>\nOak City (Martin)<br \/>\n08\/16\/2021<br \/>\nLt. Bunch contracted COVID while on-duty at the fire department. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gary G. Butner, 55<\/strong><br \/>\nGumtree (Davidson)<br \/>\n02\/26\/2022<br \/>\nDied after battling COVID for several weeks. He had served as a firefighter for over 30 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kenneth &#8220;Ace&#8221; Kelly Cameron, 65<\/strong><br \/>\nPocket (Lee)<br \/>\n12\/09\/2021<br \/>\nCameron died from complications from an injury suffered at an incident on July 23, 2021. He entered the hospital on July 24 and never returned home. He was also President of the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael David Canada, 66<\/strong><br \/>\nBear Grass (Martin)<br \/>\n06\/23\/2020<br \/>\nVolunteer firefighter Canada responded with BGFD to an automatic fire alarm on June 13, 2020. The call concluded at approximately 6:30 p.m. At approximately 10:00 p.m., firefighters were called to Canada\u2019s home for a medical emergency, where he was suffering from a heart attack. Canada was treated and transported to the hospital. He never regained consciousness and died on June 23, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Arthur W. Duckett, 63<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n03\/07\/1966<br \/>\nLt. Duckett died of a heart attack at Station 5, which was located at 10 Biltmore Plaza, after fighting a brush fire on Chapel Park Road. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Memorial Mission Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gregory Kent Faulk, 58<\/strong><br \/>\nOcean Isle Beach (Brunswick)<br \/>\n01\/13\/2021<br \/>\nFaulk died of complications resulting from an injury on October 26, 2018, when he fell fifteen feet down a fire pole and sustained\u00a0compound fractures to both legs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Samuel L. Gorman<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n8\/27\/1891<br \/>\nSee listing for Charles Barnett.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James D. Hensley, 50<\/strong><br \/>\nBrendletown (Burke)<br \/>\n06\/09\/2021<br \/>\nHensley died after suffering a medical emergency at home, the day after participating in a training exercise. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brian Keith &#8220;Keith&#8221; Jones, 55<\/strong><br \/>\nShiloh-Danieltown-Oakland (Rutherford)<br \/>\n09\/06\/2021<br \/>\nJones was an Assistant Fire Chief.<\/p>\n<p><strong>June &#8220;Junior&#8221;\u00a0McNeil Jr., 63<\/strong><br \/>\nPine Terrace (Robeson)<br \/>\n01\/12\/2022<br \/>\nMcNeil died at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James V. Radford, 63<\/strong><br \/>\nPolly Watson (Wayne)<br \/>\n02\/05\/2022<br \/>\nChief of Department Radford suffered a cardiac event while returning to the fire station, after being dispatched to a call. At approximately 1:14 p.m. on February 5, 2022, PWFD was dispatched to assist on a fire call in Wilson County. Chief Radford was responding to the call when PWFD was told to disregard the call at approximately 1:18 p.m. Radford then headed to the fire station. Upon arriving at approximately 1:32 p.m., he turned his vehicle into the parking lot and collided with a parked car. PWFD members immediately went to his car and found him unresponsive and with no breathing and no pulse. They immediately started CPR and called for EMS. He was transported to UNC Wayne Hospital and was pronounced dead as 8:19 p.m. that evening. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benjamin Henry Smith, 32<\/strong><br \/>\nEdenton<br \/>\n11\/27\/1947<br \/>\nSmith died after the apparatus he was riding overturned onto him, after colliding with an automobile while returning from a chimney fire. He died at the scene. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Charles Wayne Spry, 51<\/strong><br \/>\nLaGrange (Lenoir)<br \/>\n05\/26\/2021<br \/>\nCaptain Spry was a retired Chief of Department and a current member of town council. He had been hospitalized since suffering a heart attack at a fire scene on February 20. He was operating the engine when he was stricken. He was transported by Lenoir County EMS to Lenoir Memorial in Kinston, and then airlifted to Cape Fear Hospital in Fayetteville. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>William Daton Stalls, 69<\/strong><br \/>\nOak City (Martin)<br \/>\n08\/15\/2021<br \/>\nFirefighter\/EMT Stalls contracted COVID while on-duty at the fire department. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Ray Stroup, 68<\/strong><br \/>\nSalem (Burke)<br \/>\n04\/15\/2022<br \/>\nLt. Stroup died after suffering a heart attack on April 11, hours after working with another member at Station 2, using concrete to patch and seal a drain basis and concrete slab. He was also a former Chief of Department, a position that he held for 12 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clinton Lewis Whitley, 46<\/strong><br \/>\nFerrells (Nash)<br \/>\n10\/17\/2021<br \/>\nClinton caught COVID at the scene of a structure fire on October 2, 2021, where all occupants were COVID positive. He tested positive on October 7 and died on October 17, from COVID pneumonia and multiple organ failure. He was a volunteer member.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harry Lionel Williams, 47<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n10\/20\/1944<br \/>\nDriver Williams suffered a heart attack while standing beside his fire truck, at the scene of a small fire at Bon Ton Cleaners at 276 Haywood Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grady Dock Wilson, 48<\/strong><br \/>\nAsheville<br \/>\n06\/28\/1948<br \/>\nDriver Wilson suffered a heart attack shortly before noon at the West Asheville Fire Station, which was located at 421 Haywood Road.<\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F&text=North+Carolina+Fallen+Firefighters+Ceremony+%26%238211%3B+May+13%2C+2023\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F&description=North+Carolina+Fallen+Firefighters+Ceremony+%26%238211%3B+May+13%2C+2023\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Saturday, May 13, 2023, the following names will be added to the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the annual ceremony in downtown Raleigh. See below for narratives and notes about each member and how they died.\u00a0\u00a0 Richard S. Aman &#8211; Piney Grove &#8211; 2021 Charles Barnett &#8211; Asheville &#8211; 1891 (not shown) Perry &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/ncfff-2023\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony &#8211; May 13, 2023&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F&text=North+Carolina+Fallen+Firefighters+Ceremony+%26%238211%3B+May+13%2C+2023\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fncfff-2023%2F&description=North+Carolina+Fallen+Firefighters+Ceremony+%26%238211%3B+May+13%2C+2023\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"7337\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Ceremony - May 13, 2023\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7337"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9895,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337\/revisions\/9895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}