Incident Name:
Date: 2/22/2004, 1430 hrs
Personnel: Rickford L. Wilbur
Age: 56
Agency/Organization: Gloster Rural Volunteer Fire Department, Gloster, MS
Position: Fire Commissioner, firefighter
Summary: Fire Commissioner Davis was driving a 1997 GMC C-8500 water tanker headed to a grass fire. As the apparatus entered a left-hand curve at 50 to 55 miles per hour, Fire Commissioner Davis moved to the right to avoid hitting a car that was approaching from the opposite direction. When the right wheels of the apparatus left the right side of the roadway, Fire Commissioner Davis overcorrected to the left causing the left wheels of the apparatus to leave the left side of the road. Fire Commissioner Davis corrected again, and the apparatus began to roll. Fire Commissioner Davis was partially ejected from the apparatus and was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the truck was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Neither firefighter was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. The passenger reported to police that the apparatus had been traveling too fast. Elliott Davis was an alderman in Gloster Ward and was in charge of the town’s fire and ambulance departments.
Maps
Gloster Rural Volunteer Fire Department, Gloster, Mississippi
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- USFA Memorial Database: Elliott Davis, Jr
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