Each June, on the first Sunday of the month, fire and EMS departments from around the state gather to pay tribute to the fallen.
Jesse McCullough was the most recent death among them. Though he battled flames during his life, it was a 21-month battle with an aggressive form of colon cancer that ended it on Oct. 9, 2018. He was assigned to the Landover Hills station.
During an interview at a fundraiser last year, McCullough told WTOP the biggest thing that helped him after his diagnosis was the fact that he got to tell his wife and daughters he loved them every day.
Howard County Lt. Nathan Flynn was one of the many responders to a seven-alarm house fire in Clarksville. He died after falling through the home’s first floor while battling that blaze.
“It is a sad loss for us. It’s our first career firefighter loss in the history of Howard County,” said Joanne Rund, who has spent more than three decades with Howard County Fire.
Also remembered Sunday, Patricia Osborn of the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department in Calvert County.
“While providing patient care en route to the hospital, Pat experienced her own medical emergency, and she was found unresponsive and died on May 26, 2018,” said Anne Arundel County Fire Department Chief Trisha L. Wolford during the memorial address.
Others honored included Steward W. Godwin, who died more than 50 years ago. He and other first responders rushed to look for survivors of PanAm Flight 214, which had crashed into a field in Cecil County. After searching for hours, Godwin, who worked for the North East Volunteer Company, collapsed and died of a heart attack on Dec. 9, 1963.
Assistant Chief Daniel “Danny” Lister of Queen Anne-Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Company also had a medical emergency while assisting a motorist, and he passed away on Sept. 1, 2018.
