Two West Virginia volunteer firefighters died in the line of duty February 19.

49-year-old Lt. Johnnie Hammons and 26-year-old Timothy Nicholas died in the Line of Duty while operating at a mobile home fire in the Cottle area. Lt. Hammons had been with the Craigsville-Beaver-Cottle FD for 11 years and FF Nicholas had only been a Firefighter for about a year.

When the firefighters arrived at the scene, reports are that the fire was mostly in a camping trailer that was parked about 4 feet from the mobile home but the fire had spread to the mobile home. The Firefighters died when they entered the mobile home at around 2200 last night and it is reported that they were trying to keep the fire from spreading within as well as to other nearby exposures. What happened while they were interior to cause or contribute to their deaths is yet undisclosed. 18 Firefighters turned out for the initial alarm.

-courtesy firefighterclosecalls.com