Fallen Police and Firefighters from the start of July (9 Photos and stories)

Firefighter Caleb Hamm of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Bonneville Interagency Hotshot crew, based in Salt Lake City died in the line of duty. Hotshot crews an excellent reputation throughout the United States and Canada as elite teams of professional wildland firefighters.  Hotshots typically carry packs that weigh up to 45 pounds and sometimes find themselves hiking rough terrain for several miles before reaching the work site.  Shifts normally last up to 16 hours, but during initial attack can go much longer.  The work can be exhausting at times, pushing some to their physical and mental limits. Read the full story here

Officer Colonroche, 55, was born in Puerto Rico.  He had served with the Sanford Police Department for nine years and had previously served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division as an MP for 22 years.  Read the full story here

Firefighter Houser passed away from serious injuries he suffered during a fire in 1981 at a McCurdy’s Department Store fire in Midtown Plaza. Through smoke from burning chemicals, Hauser repeatedly entered a burning stairwell in the building to help rescue fellow firefighters. Twenty-six firefighters were injured in that blaze. Hauser continued to work on light duty for the fire department for several years and then retired.  His lungs were damaged during the rescues,  Firefighter Hauser endured a heart and lung transplant, and cancer in the years that followed.  Read the full story here

Police Officer Bryan Hebert of the Beaumont Police Department was murdered in the line of duty.  Police Officer Bryan Hebert was killed when his patrol car was intentionally struck by another vehicle during a pursuit.  Other officers had initiated the pursuit of a man wanted for assaulting his mother and grandmother. Police Officer Hebert is the 17th officer from the Beaumont Police Department to die in the line of duty.  Hebert, who is unmarried and does not have children, was on a promotional list and was soon to be made a sergeant.  Read the full story here

Sergeant Steven Kenner of the Bismarck Police Department was killed in the line of duty.  Sergeant Kenner was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance involving a man threatening a woman with a knife. When he and another officer arrived at the scene the located the man sitting in a van. As the officers instructed the man to show his hands he opened fire, striking Sergeant Kenner. The suspect was wounded in the exchange of gunfire. Sergeant Kenner was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. Read the full story here

Deputy Sheriff Roger Rice of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office was murdered in the line of duty.  Deputy Rice was shot and killed as he and other deputies searched for a murder suspect. Officers from the Fountain Inn Police Department had requested assistance from the sheriff’s office to locate the man, who had just murdered his girlfriend. Deputies and officers located the man near his home on Barrel Stave Road in Clinton. As they attempted to take him into custody he opened fire, fatally wounding Deputy Rice. Read the full story here

Forty-nine-year-old Charles “Sparky” Sparks, a 32-year veteran of the CACFD who works as a Deputy State Fire Marshall, and also a well known State Fire Instructor, suffered the heart attack and went into sudden cardiac arrest while inside the burning structure. His fellow volunteer firemen used CPR and AED on Sparks until the Adair County EMS arrived on the scene. He was transported to Westlake Regional Hospital and then airlifted by Air Evac to Norton’s Audubon Hospital in Louisville. Read the full story here

Police Officer Ryan Stringer of the Alhambra Police Department died in the line of duty.  Police Officer Stringer was killed in an automobile accident when his patrol car collided with another patrol car. Officer Stringer and the officer in the other patrol car were responding to a robbery in progress when they collided. Read the full story here

Police Officer Brent Long was shot and killed as he and other officers served a felony warrant at a house.  A task force comprised of officers from the United States Marshals Service, Indiana State Police and Terre Haute Police Department, including Officer Long, knocked on the back door of the house on North 8th Street to serve a felony warrant. Long and his dog, Shadow, were the first to enter the gunman’s home, ahead of five other officers as a team of state and local police and a deputy federal marshal served the man an arrest warrant for violating probation and receiving stolen property, Watts said. The gunman opened fire within seconds.  As the officers made entry into the home the suspect opened fire on them, striking Officer Long and his canine, Shadow.  The suspect was shot and killed by return fire.  Officer Long was transported to Union Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.  Shadow was taken to a veterinary clinic and is expected to recover.  Read the full story here