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Indiana Firefighter Struck, Killed by Fire Truck
Updated: Friday, September 17, 1999 - 7 a.m.
By MELISSA BARBAGALLO and DAVE J. IANNONE
A volunteer firefighter was killed Wednesday after she was struck by a fire truck in
heavy smoke at the scene of a brush fire in Clark County, Indiana.
Terri Hood, 31, a three-year-veteran of the McCulloch Volunteer Fire Department,
was found by fellow firefighters during a 450-acre field fire. She was the first female to
die during fire operations in the United States this year and the sixth to die during
a brush or wildfire.
Edwin Coots of the Clark County Coroner's office told Firehouse.Com News today that
Hood suffered multiple traumatic injuries after she was "hit by a fire truck" at
the scene of the incident. He declined to go into further details as the investigation
was continuing.
The Courier-Journal reported Thursday that Hood was among a crew fighting
a fire in a field when a neighboring department, New Washington, called for
backup to save a barn. Reportedly, crews ran out of water temporarily and
"backed away" from the barn, the paper reported. WHAS-TV said the New
Washington truck driver checked around the vehicle before moving the unit but
conditions were poor and the fire was extending rapidly.
They later found Hood's body on the ground near the barn after she had been
reported missing. Smoke conditions at the time reportedly provided
little or no visibility.
The Clark County Sheriff's office is investigating the accident with the assistance
of state officials, said Alden Taylor of the Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office.
Further details were expected to be released Friday. Sheriff's officials declined
to release any further information until the investigation is complete.
The death was the first in the history of the nearly 40-year-old department, officials
said.
Viewing is Friday, from 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and
Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chalestown Funeral Home. Funeral services
are scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Charletown High School gym with burial
to follow, the funeral home reported.
The blaze took about five hours to bring under control and was reportedly ignited
by a vehicle which backfired.
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Title Photo Credit: USFA