Two members of the Rocky Mount Fire Department, one of them also the town's vice mayor, were killed in a three-vehicle wreck Monday as they responded to a structure fire.
The firefighters died after they were thrown from the truck, which flipped several times and landed upside-down on top of a Ford Mustang driven by a Bassett woman, according to the Virginia State Police. She survived, police said.
Rocky Mount Fire Chief and Vice Mayor Posey Dillon and longtime firefighter William D. "Danny" Altice were killed, said Virginia State Police First Sgt. Mike Bailey.
The fire truck was dispatched to a structure fire in Union Hall around 4:30 p.m. Monday. It was traveling east through the intersection of Route 40 and School Board Road in Rocky Mount when a Ford Escape pulled out from School Board Road into the intersection, Bailey said.
Witnesses told police that the Ford Escape hit the rear of the fire truck. The truck then hit the curb on the other side of the road and flipped, landing on top of the Mustang, the witnesses said. Dillon and Altice, who were the only people in the fire truck, were thrown from the vehicle, Bailey said.
The truck was hauling about 1,000 gallons of water, and the weight may have shifted when it hit the curb, Bailey said, adding that the truck rolled "up to three times" before landing on the Mustang, which was stopped at the light in the westbound lane of Route 40.
Drivers of the Escape and the Mustang were the only occupants of those vehicles, and both were transported to Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital. Both of them were treated and released, Bailey said. State police Sgt. Robert Carpentieri identified the other drivers as Puckett, 47, who was driving the Mustang, and 41-year-old Terry Valentine of Rocky Mount, who was driving the Escape . Bailey said the traffic light was red for Route 40 traffic, and the fire truck did a "rolling stop" as it was going through with lights flashing and sirens sounding. Witnesses are being interviewed, and surveillance cameras from nearby businesses are being examined to piece together exactly what happened, he said. Route 40 was closed in both directions for several hours.
Dillon, who was in his late 50s, had served on Rocky Mount Town Council for 24 years, including 10 years as vice mayor, and was re-elected vice mayor earlier this month. He had been fire chief for 20 years.
Altice joined the fire department in 1963 and served as chief from 1977 to 1984. He was presented a lifetime achievement award by town council last year.
Information about the structure fire was not available Monday night.
