More than 100 names will be added to the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial this weekend in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The somber memorial service planned for Sunday morning will feature some especially heavy hearts from the D.C. area.
One of the names being added is 34-year-old Lt. Nate Flynn of Howard County Fire and Rescue, who died in July of 2018 while working a house fire in Clarksville.
“He was a good guy,” said Battalion Chief Stephen Hardesty with Howard County Fire and Rescue. “Anytime somebody needed help Nate would always offer to step up and help out no matter what it was.”
Flynn was among those on the scene when a home that may have been struck by lightning lit up into flames. He was inside the home when the floor collapsed.
“It shocked us,” said Hardesty, who said it’s one of the most unforgettable fires in his 29-year career. “It was a seven alarm fire. We’ve never … had anything that big in the county. And we hope to never have to do it again.”
“Every time we turn around there’s something that reminds us of him,” said Hardesty said of Flynn. In fact one of the roads inside the county fire department’s training facility in Marriotsville is now named after Flynn.
Firefighters from Anne Arundel County will be covering some of the shifts in Howard County so Flynn’s colleagues can attend Sunday’s memorial service.
Three other firefighters from Maryland are also being honored this weekend. They include: 65-year-old Mitchell Dobbins, who was the president of the Western Enterprise Company in Hagerstown; 45-year-old Assistant Chief Christopher Pryor of the LaVale Volunteer Fire Department near Cumberland; and 34-year-old Assistant Chief Danny Lister of the Queen Anne-Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Company.
Six firefighters from Virginia will also be added to the memorial. They are: 56-year-old Dennis Brent of Charlottesville; 43-year-old Lt. James Kegley of Hanover County Fire and EMS; 48-year-old William Moore IV of the Amelia Courthouse Volunteer Fire Department; 33-year-old Captain Anthony Whetzel of the Rockingham County Fire and Rescue; and 77-year-old Herbert Wilcox of the Rocky Mount Fire Department.
About 5,000 people are expected to attend the main memorial service Sunday morning in Emmittsburg.
