Two Kilgore, Texas Fire Fighters Remembered
February 2, 2009 – Fire fighters, family and friends bid emotional farewells to two fallen Kilgore, TX Local 2996 fire fighters. Services for Kyle Perkins, 45, were held on Thursday, January 29, and for Cory Galloway, 23, on Friday, January 30.
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger spoke during both services. “We know when we get this calling that it could take any one of us, at any time,” he said. “Everyone who has taken the oath to serve in our profession comes into it knowing the risk. But, nothing prepares us to cope with the grief that we feel when we lose a brother or sister in the line of duty, let alone two.”
“Their untimely deaths were a shock to all of us,” says IAFF 11th District Vice President Sandy McGhee. “While I never met either of them personally, I know, by all reports, that they were both dedicated to duty and to serving their community. They will be missed.”
Full fire fighter honors were extended to both fire fighters as emergency vehicles from area departments lined the streets, bag pipes played and fire fighters in dress blues flooded the churches.
“The support has been amazing,” says Ramon Coven, president of Local 2996. “The loss of our two brothers is heartbreaking, but we are holding up the best we can.”
Perkins had been with the Kilgore Fire Department and a member of Local 2996 since 2004. His profession was to protect those in need and in his free time, he still worked for others, whether it was organizing a walk to raise money for cancer research, actively taking part in fire prevention programs or singing in the choir. Perkins’ good deeds did not go unnoticed when he was named “Fire Fighter of the Year” in 2008.
Galloway joined the fire department and Local 2996 in January 2008 and was bursting with enthusiasm, ready to hop on a rig and respond to any call. “He was ready to give everything he had to do the job, committed, duty-bound, ready to serve in the hardest and most rewarding job imaginable. That’s who Cory was,” said Schaitberger of Galloway’s reputation as a fire fighter.
Both Perkins’ and Galloway’s names will be etched into the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a permanent reminder of their dedication and sacrifice.
Schaitberger, McGhee and Coven also presented both families with the IAFF Medal of Honor.
While investigations are still ongoing, investigators know that Perkins and Galloway were training on a newly acquired E-One 95-foot platform aerial truck which with a bucket attached. Both were inside the bucket eight-stories in the air when they were thrown to the ground. They later died of their injuries
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