We’ve lost another.
Battalion Chief Tommy Adams, a 31-year decorated veteran of the Shreveport LA Fire Department, passed away early this morning. Chief Adams had been in a relative state of coma since falling from a fire department ladder truck back in February of this year.
We join firefighters across the country and around the world to extend our prayers and wishes to the family and friends of Chief Adams, as well as those with whom he served won the Shreveport Fire Department.
First, the news story from KSLA News 12 :
In a statement, Chief Crawford says he and Adam’s wife Traci were at his side. In a separate statement on a web site Traci Adams has maintained with updates since the devastating fall, Adams says her husband was surrounded by family and friends. “We were all better for having known and loved Tommy Adams. The girls and I are heart-broken, but are at peace with seeing him back with HIS father in heaven. God has been with us through this entire event, and I feel HIS blessings, love, and mercy wrapped around me tighter than ever…”
Chief Adams fell from a fire department ladder truck following a the Krew of Gemini Mardi Gras parade on February 21 of this year.
The Fire Department speaking on behalf of the family wishes to thank the tremendous outpouring of support for Tommy and the entire Adams family shown by the Shreveport and surrounding communities, said Crawford. “On behalf of the City of Shreveport, Mayor Cedric Glover, myself and Tommy’s entire fire department family we send our deepest sympathies to the Adams’ family and can never say enough about the sacrifice that Tommy made for this community in his 31 years of dedicated and decorated service. He will be missed,” concluded Crawford.
Chief Crawford says Chief Adams death will be classified as a line-of-duty death and he will be buried with full firefighter honors next week. Those arrangements will be announced from Chief Crawford’s Office as soon as they are available.
Here is an exerpt from the Support Chief Tommy website lovingly written by Brian Richardson of the Shreveport Fire Department:
February 21st began as a cold rainy morning, but excitement was in the air. It was the day of the Krewe of Gemini parade in downtown Shreveport, LA. The local weather forecast said the rain would subside, and the sun would break through in time for the parade to continue as scheduled. There were doubts about that prediction. How many times are the weather people actually right when it comes to rain?
(Photo from SupportChiefTommy.com)
This day luck was on the meteorologist side. The sun broke through and the excitement and anticipation about the parade heightened. Tommy Adams, his wife, and two young daughters were thrilled that the parade would go on. They had missed out on the chance to ride in the parade a week earlier, and this was the last major parade in Shreveport for 2009.
Chief Tommy had checked his inventory of beads earlier in the day. He wanted to make sure he had enough beads for his wife and daughters, ensuring they would not run out of throws before the parade ended. He was careful in preparing for this day spent with family — wife and kids as well as his brother and sister firefighters. Anyone who knows Chief Tommy knows that he was probably just as concerned about running out of beads and disappointing the public that lined the parade route.
Chief Tommy has spent the last thirty one years as a firefighter/ paramedic and is very well liked and respected among his co-workers. I personally have never seen him without a smile (or a hair out of place for that matter). He had also been a paramedic with Life Air Rescue and taught the first LAR (Life Air Rescue) landing zone class I had as a rookie firefighter.
This day started just like any other day, full of hopes and expectations, not a thought about tragic events that a firefighter like Chief Tommy and others in the fire service experience on a day to day basis. This was a day to bond with family and friends, a day to relax and have fun.
The parade went quite well. Every year these events get bigger and bigger. The Fire department usually has the privilege of being at the head of the parade, at least for the years that I have been in the parades. I’m not quite sure if the reason for the fire trucks being in the front is that we are so important or because we have loud sirens. Either way it is nice to be invited. Typically at the end of the parade route the fire trucks pull to the side of the road to secure any loose empty boxes that held beads or cups. This night was over; everyone is happy, packing up and heading for home. The parade goers leave with their bounty, and the firefighters and their families who rode the fire trucks leave with great memories. What started out to be a predictable day however took a tragic turn for the worst.
As Chief Tommy was clearing debris and boxes from the ladder truck he fell approximately 10 feet, landing head first on the concrete roadway. Firefighters are trained for such emergencies, trained to perform lifesaving measures in the field and en route to the hospitals where the patients are handed to an emergency room doctor. Chief Tommy, as a Paramedic, had been involved in teaching most of the firefighters on the scene that night these lifesaving techniques. Nothing could have prepared us to work on a close member of our family and with his wife and daughters present. On scene Chief Tommy was a Trauma code (his heart had stopped) and had to have CPR performed. Chief Tommy was transported to Willis Knighton Pierremont hospital where he regained a heart rate, and his condition was listed as critical. He suffered fractures to his cervical (neck) spine (c4, c5, and c6) and was placed on a breathing machine. He has been unresponsive since the fall.
At the time of this posting, March 10th 2009, he has shown signs of responding, such as opening his eyes for short periods of time when prompted by his wife and daughters.
A full honors firefighter funeral will be held for Chief Adams:
Public visitation will take place from 1-9 p.m. Tuesday, December 15. Family visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. The chapel is at 1815 Marshall St., Shreveport.
Services will be held Wednesday, December 16 at 1030 hours at Summer Grove Baptist Church, 8924 Jewella Avenue. Graveside services will take place at Forest Park.
We join firefighters across the country and around the world to extend our prayers and wishes to the family and friends of Chief Adams, as well as those with whom he served won the Shreveport Fire Department. May you find strength and peace at the end of this long and difficult journey.
Also on Fire Daily…
- LODD- Fire Chief Jimmy Lee Davis Sr, 63, White Oak Volunteer Fire Dept, Maysville NC – December 13, 2009
- LODD- FF Terrance Freeman, Sr. 36 Rockford (IL) Fire Dept. – November 25, 2009
- LODD- Gretna, LA Ricky Christiana, 44 – September 15, 2009
- LODD- Firefighter Robert Stone, 47, Amity (PA) Fire and Rescue – November 7, 2009
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