Monday, January 12, 2015

RETIRED FIREFIGHTER DIES AFTER HE WAS 'SWEPT AWAY' ON FLOODED LANCASTER ROAD IN LANCASTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA



RETIRED FIREFIGHTER DIES AFTER HE WAS 'SWEPT AWAY' ON FLOODED LANCASTER ROAD IN LANCASTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA



LANCASTER A former firefighter died when he was "swept away" after getting out of his truck on a flooded road, according to emergency officials in Lancaster County.

Danny Ray Deese, 60, a retired firefighter with the Buford Fire Department, has been identified as the victim in the incident, which occurred at about 6:45 a.m. on Duckwood Road in Lancaster, Deputy Coroner Tony Broome said. A cause of death will be determined once an autopsy is completed, he said.

It appears Deese's Ford Ranger pickup got stuck in a flooded culvert, Lancaster County Fire Marshal Stephen Blackwelder said. When Deese got out of his vehicle, Blackwelder said, he was "swept away, well off of the road" into a flooded creek downstream. 

Deese was a firefighter with the Buford Fire Department in eastern Lancaster County for 21 years, Blackwelder said. He was assistant chief of the department before going inactive in January 2014 to tend to his wife's health issues. His son is a firefighter with the Lancaster City Fire Department.

"You don't get to 21 years without loving what you do and being good at it," Blackwelder said.

Emergency crews recovered his body just before 11 a.m. His truck was washed 100 yards downstream. 

Crews from the Lancaster, Lancaster County and Flat Creek fire departments all reported to the scene.