KILGORE, Texas — Wednesday marks 14 years since a tragic accident took the lives of two Kilgore firemen.
It happened on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009. Firemen Kyle Perkins and Cory Galloway reportedly fell 83 feet to the ground from the aerial basket of a fire truck during a training exercise on the Kilgore College campus.
The pair along with two other firefighters were training with a new firetruck when its aerial basket got caught on the eight-story building’s roof. The doors on the vehicle’s basket failed to secure Perkins and Galloway causing them to fall.
The deaths left an imprint on many with the Kilgore Fire Department and their families.
Perkins' daughter Laura Starling said Jan. 25 is a day of remembrance for her.
"Its' pretty traumatic and we were in three different cities when it happened between my mom and my brother and I," Starling said. "(My dad) was fun, he pulled jokes, pranks and he loved his family."
Starling said the love was extended to her family after her father's passing. She said her father's firefighter brotherhood has taken care of her family by stepping in for her dad.
"It really meant a lot and even now," said Starling. "There's some of them that still come to birthday parties, baby showers and things like that for my kids and my brother and his kids."
Two memorials have been placed to honor those who served with Kilgore FD. One at Kilgore Fire Station #2 and the other in front of Bert E. Woodruff Adult Education Center.
"The whole department was grieving," Starling said. "I mean that was their brother but I think it meant a lot that they acknowledged how lucky they were to still be there. That it could’ve happened anybody up there."