Mike Valentine's helmet rests atop his boots in the living area at Denton Fire Station 3, his bunker coat beside them, ready for the next callout.
But he won't be grabbing the gear on the run out to Engine 3 again. Today at 8 a.m. his C shift 24-hour stint begins, but the 29-year-old firefighter won't be reporting for duty. His brother and sister firefighters are trying to cope with that.
Valentine - one of the most popular firefighters in the department - his co-workers said he was killed early Wednesday in an automobile accident in Wise County.
State troopers still are investigating the accident on U.S. Highway 380 near the Denton County line, but what his loved ones know now is that he apparently made a U-turn and was struck broadside by an 18-wheeler.
The firefighters set his gear out Wednesday morning. It isn't likely to be moved soon.
Flags flew at half-staff at all six Denton fire stations Wednesday as the fire chief made tentative plans for the formalities that attend a firefighter's funeral. Several of Valentine's closest friends drove to Decatur as soon as they heard to be with his wife, Jennifer, and their three small sons.
His immediate family is extremely close on both sides, said Capt. Mark Klingele, who spent the day with family members. Four carloads of firefighters went out there in different waves.
Firefighters will be with the family from now on as long as they are needed, he said.
He's so young, Klingele said. You know, I never heard him raise his voice. I never saw him get mad. His name was Michael, his family called him Joseph and at the fire department we called him Billy Ray. He was a man of many names, but he was always the same. He was the first to step up when you needed something. And the last one to go.
Fire Chief Ross Chadwick said Valentine helped out with public education at the department, working with the clown show that is popular with area schools.
I think about his baby face and his smile. He always had a kind word for everyone, Chadwick said. If we were going to hire a firefighter, he?d be the model of what we'd like to have.?
Firefighters from surrounding departments already are volunteering to bring their engines to Denton's stations Saturday so every firefighter can attend the funeral.
Fire Marshal Rick Jones said he last saw Valentine helping out at a two-alarm apartment complex fire in Denton on Monday.
He was a model of what you think a firefighter should be, he said.
Valentine came to work at the fire department in 1998 after a stint in the Air Force. He worked at several of Denton's stations and came to Station 3 after being promoted to driver a few months ago. Before that, he worked for two years at Station 2.
Heath Hudson worked with him at that station. His eyes were swollen Wednesday afternoon, but he smiled when he talked about Valentine.
He was a great guy, Hudson said. He could always make you laugh. At the fire department, everybody gets a nickname. We called him Billy Ray. It came from that movie, Trading Places. Eddie Murphy played a guy named Billy Ray Valentine. When he first came to work, somebody asked him if that was who he was. It stuck.?
This is the first death of a working firefighter in the 36 years that he has been on the job, Captain Ed Tomlin said. A golfer himself, Tomlin chuckled over the stories Valentine told of firefighter golf games.
Mike Tucker remembered the musician who played the guitar beautifully, who wrote and sang silly songs about everyone in the department.
He was a great person to be around. I don't think I ever saw him frown, he said.
It was quiet at Station 3 Wednesday. Valentine would have relieved the B Shift firefighters stationed there when C Shift came on duty this morning. Mike Jones stared at the boots, the helmet, the smoke-stained yellow coat with Denton and Valentine stenciled on the back.
Firefighters respond to accidents every day, Jones said. They deal with sudden death as a matter of course.
It's different when it's one of yours, he said with tears in his eyes. He would be the one to crack a joke when we were in stress. He would be the one to say we sure are a sorry-looking bunch of guys.
This story was reprinted with permission of The Denton Record Chronicle
