Fallen Prince William volunteer to be honored

A Dale City volunteer firefighter is among 103 names to be added Sunday to the National Fallen Firefighters Memo-rial in Maryland.

Cecilia R. Turnbough, an emergency medical technician who collapsed with a heart attack during a training exercise in November, is one of two firefighters from Virginia to be honored this weekend in Emmitsburg, Md.

Turnbough was training to become a volunteer firefighter.

"This memorial plays an instrumental role in making sure the families of fallen firefighters who have paid the ultimate price for someone else's safety is given the full honor and respect they deserve," said Prince William County Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief C. Hadden Culp.

Turnbough volunteered with the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department for eight years before she died. She collapsed while inside "the maze," a dark room which uses no smoke but is designed to simulate a burning build-ing.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is well known for its commitment, through training and education, to preventing firefighter deaths and honor those who have worked as firefighters, said Dale City Volunteer Fire De-partment Chief Christopher G. Hool.

"These are public safety personnel who need to be remembered in different ways, and they do a great job of that," said Hool.

Turnbough's husband was also a Dale City volunteer firefighter at the time of her death. Hool said some of Turnbough's family members will attend the memorial service.

Hool said earlier this year that Turnbough died from an enlarged heart—a pre-existing condition the depart-ment's required health questionnaire could have not possibly identified before she began volunteering. He did not return a request for comment Friday about this story.

When the results of the investigation into Turnbough's death were released in February, Prince William Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin J. McGee announced a recommendation requiring all volunteer firefighters in the county be subject to full medical physicals.

The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial was founded in 1981 and contains the names of more than 3,300 fallen firefighters, according to a press release.

Firefighters in 36 states were killed in 2008. The second Virginian to be honored, Jean L. Nuckols Jr., was stationed in the Hampton Roads area.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.