Published: January 27, 2008 10:37 pm      

Hundreds bid farewell to EMS director

LOUISA — Hundreds of emergency responders gathered in Lawrence County on Sunday to pay their respects to a fallen comrade.

Representatives of Kentucky agencies from as far away as Louisville, and from departments in Ohio and West Virginia packed the gymnasium of Louisa Middle School for the funeral of Paintsville Emergency Services Director Christa Burchett.

Burchett, 33, who was also the city’s assistant fire chief, was killed in the line of duty Tuesday morning. She was assisting a pregnant woman following an accident on U.S. 460, about five miles west of Paintsville, when a coal truck skidded out of control on the icy road, striking her and the mother-to-be, Erica Brown, 24, of Salyersville.

Brown, was three months pregnant, was pronounced dead at the accident scene. Burchett died later that morning at Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center.

Burchett, of Lowmansville, had worked as a paramedic since 2003. She joined Paintsville Fire-Rescue-EMS in 2005 and was named EMS director in April of last year. She was the mother of a 14-year-old daughter, Olivia, a student at Paintsville High School.

As mourners entered Burchett’s funeral, they filed past her work vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, which was parked at the entrance to the middle school. A single red rose was tucked under one of its windshield wipers. A decal on one of the side rear windows read: “In Loving Memory of 106 (Burchett’s radio call number), Christa Burchett.”

Red Bush Volunteer Fire Department Chief Buell Webb, one of two firefighters who officiated at Burchett’s funeral, said while Burchett’s death came as a shock, it was not surprising she died doing what she loved best — helping someone in need.

“She died because she wanted to protect you and I,” he said. “She was dedicated. She loved her job. There was something deep down inside her that made her want to do that work.”

Webb said he heard the accident that claimed the lives of Burchett, Brown and Brown’s unborn child unfolding on his scanner.

“I remember praying to God that it wasn’t one of ours,” he said. “But it was.”

Following the service at the school, Burchett’s flag-draped casket was loaded onto the back of a fire engine and transported to the Fred M. Vinson Veterans Memorial at Yatesville Lake, where firefighter rites were performed.

En route to the lake, the truck carrying Burchett’s remains passed beneath the aerials of two ladder trucks, which had been raised to form an arch across Ky. 2565.

During the service, members of Paintsville Fire-Rescue-EMS wept inconsolably when Burchett’s last call came over the radio.

A total of 675 attended Burchett’s funeral, according to Ronnie Day, executive director of the Kentucky Fire Commission, which organized the service. He said he wasn’t sure how many agencies were represented.

Boyd EMS Director Tom Adams said he had had gotten to know Burchett “fairly well” because she had worked fill-in shifts for his agency for the past couple of years.

Adams said crews from Boyd and Carter County EMS covered Paintsville’s calls on Sunday so Burchett’s co-workers could attend her funeral.

He said he was not surprised to see members of the emergency response community turn out en masse to bid farewell to Burchett.

“We’re very close,” he said. “We’re all aware that this could be any one of us.”

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.