Tributes To Firefighters Continue

by 6 ABC-AP | Jul 9, 2002

For the second day in a row, residents of this small New Jersey suburban community were joined Tuesday by hundreds of firefighters from across the country as they buried one of their own with hero's honors.

John D. West, 41, Mount Ephraim's deputy fire chief, was one of three firefighters killed July 4 when a burning building collapsed in Gloucester City. Three little girls were also killed in the blaze.

Friends said West, a father of four, was intensely dedicated to the fire service, not only responding to fires but working for the department at fund-raisers, giving fire prevention lessons at schools and playing first base on the fire company softball team.

He was a Camden County fire marshal and worked with a dog trained by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Members of each of those agencies took part in the services.

Camden County freeholders spokesman Kevin McElroy said even more fire service members attended this funeral than the one a day earlier at the same Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. Some 1,500 firefighters from as far away as Georgia and Iowa attended Monday's services for Mount Ephraim Fire Chief James Sylvester.

The funeral for Gloucester City firefighter Thomas G. Stewart III was scheduled for Wednesday.

The three girls, 5-year-old Alexandra Slack and her twin 3-year-old sisters Claudia and Colletta are to buried Thursday, capping off the public part of a week of mourning in Camden County.

Investigators finished their work at the scene of the fire Saturday, but have not yet determined a cause. One key might be interviewing Katia "Tia" Williamson, 24, the girls' mother. She remained in critical condition at Crozer Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa.

Greg Reinert, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office, said authorities would release a cause as soon as one is determined, even if that happened before the funerals were over. But he said it is possible a cause will not be determined.

Article continues below

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It was a heart wrenching morning for all who went to the visitation and funeral services for 5-year-old Alexandra Slack and her 3 year old twin sisters, Claudia and Colletta. The three died in the July 4th fire at their twin home on broadway in Gloucester City...

Author: 6 ABC-AP

Tributes To Firefighters Continue

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