Memorial Service For Fallen Firefighter To Be Held July 16 At 5 P.M., Edenton Street United Methodist Church, Raleigh

7/15/2005

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Eastern Wake fallen firefighter Todd Alan Blanchard will be held Saturday, July 16, 2005, at 5 p.m. at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, 228 West Edenton Street, Raleigh, N.C. Funeral services will be conducted later in Greenfield, Mass., by Kostanski Funeral Home.

Blanchard, 31, was killed in the line of duty on Thursday, July 14. His fellow firefighters at Eastern Wake Fire and Rescue Station #1 will lead a procession of firefighters from across the state from the Eastern Wake Station, 4828 Clifton Road (Poole and Clifton roads) in Knightdale, N.C., to the Edenton Street Methodist Church in downtown Raleigh. Fire departments and other procession participants are requested to be at the Eastern Wake Station no later than 3 p.m. to begin staging.

The Blanchard Family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Educational Trust Fund for his daughters, Jessika Lin Blanchard and Ryan Marie Blanchard, c/o First Citizens Bank, P.O. Box 549, Knightdale, N.C. 27545

Blanchard is survived by his parents, Allan Westley Blanchard and Marie Canon Blanchard; his daughters and their mother Ami C. Blanchard; fiancee Allison Miller of Garner; and brothers and sisters, Michael Wayne Blanchard, Allan Westley Blanchard Jr., Norman Antonio Blanchard and Charlene Marie B. Couture.

For information about the memorial service and procession, please call the Eastern Wake Station at 919-217-0054.

Eastern Wake Firefighter Dies in Line of Duty, July 14 2005

Blanchard died early Thursday morning from injuries suffered at a fire at Turnipseed Road and Major Slade Road in the unincorporated Knightdale area.

According to fire officials, a massive tree at that intersection was struck by lightning at approximately 5:00 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters responded, applied water, and, when the fire appeared to be out, left the scene.

Blanchard was one member of a three-firefighter crew that returned to the scene at 12:42 a.m. Thursday in response to a report that the tree was still smoldering. The crew applied water to the smoldering area, and then approached the tree to examine that smoldering area more closely. As the crew walked toward the tree, a limb estimated to be 2.5 feet in diameter broke and fell. Blanchard was struck by the limb. The two firefighters who responded with Blanchard managed to remove the limb, and began CPR when they determined that Blanchard's breathing and heart had stopped. Eastern Wake EMS paramedics arrived at the scene, initiated advanced life support treatment and took Blanchard to WakeMed. Paramedic and hospital efforts to revive Blanchard were unsuccessful.

A line-of-duty firefighter death is investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office, the North Carolina Department of Labor's occupational health and safety staff and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Eastern Wake fire officials initiated this process before 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Blanchard had worked as a full-time firefighter for Eastern Wake Fire Department for approximately two years. He came to Eastern Wake Fire Department from the Garner Fire Department.

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