Ceremony recalls Catlett's fiery loss

By CATHY DYSON

More than 220 people filled the Catlett Fire & Rescue Company Monday night, but no one made a sound when the scanner crackled at 7:38 p.m.

For many gathered, the moment had been branded into their minds 20 years ago. The voice of the Fauquier County dispatcher took them back in time as she made a special announcement: On Sept. 28, 1989, a Catlett firetruck was on its way to a call when it crashed into an Amtrak train.

Two firefighters--Mark Miller and Matt Smith--were killed instantly, and three others on the truck were injured.

As the dispatcher finished, tears flowed from many in the audience. Then, there was the piercing sound of a single bell being rung 10 times, twice for each fireman aboard Wagon 7 that night.

The 20-year anniversary marked the first formal memorial the Catlett department held for those who died in the line of duty.

"Sept. 28, 1989, changed the community and this fire department as a whole," said Chief Kalvyn Smith. "We never want to forget these guys."

'FIND MY BOYS'

Smith was the assistant chief in 1989. He had been the best man in Miller's wedding and spent a lot of time with the Millers, one of several Mennonite families in the southern Fauquier area of Catlett.

When Smith arrived on the scene that night, he saw firefighters trying to contain the fireball that erupted after the 22-ton truck crashed into the 1,290-ton train.

Carnage filled the landscape. Both locomotives and 11 of the 16 train cars had derailed. Of the 399 passengers and crew onboard, 57 were injured.

The accident triggered the largest fire and rescue effort in Fauquier history, according to The Fauquier Citizen newspaper. Fire and rescue companies from six counties responded, as well as the U.S. Army and the Washington Hospital Center. There were 15 engines, 46 ambulances and seven helicopters on the scene, according to a report from the U.S. Fire Administration.

Smith found Chief Clyde Lomax, who had responded to the scene of the original call for a vehicle fire. Lomax had been talking to the men on Wagon 7 as he waited for them to arrive.

Miller had missed the driveway. He turned around and headed back.

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THE SURVIVORS: There was lots of hugging at the Catlett Fire & Rescue Company Monday night, but the three men who survived the 1989 crash were embraced the most.

Frankie Herndon, 38; Ernest Colbert, 39; and Michael Kirk, 41, were in Wagon 7's jump-seat area, facing the open rear of the vehicle the night of the crash.

At Monday's memorial, they were in the back of the crowd before the ceremony, and Chief Kalvyn Smith summoned them to the front. "We cherish these folks," he said.

All three live in the region, but Kirk is the only one who stayed in the small community. He's still asked regularly about the crash and says it's not easy to forget--not when you live in Catlett."

FAMILIES OF THE FALLEN: Mark Miller, 24, left behind a wife, Robin, and a baby daughter, Jessika. Now 21, Jessika attended the memorial with her mother. Robin, who lives in Pennsylvania, had goose bumps as she greeted people she hadn't seen in years.

"I'm glad we're honoring them," she said.

So was Penny Smith, the mother of 22-year-old Matt Smith. His longtime girlfriend, Tina Arms, sat beside his mother, and both dabbed at tears .

"It's still hard," said Smith, who used to call out for her only child all the time. "I have my memories."

NEVER FORGET: Volunteers from Catlett Fire and Cedar Run Rescue merged in 2007 to form the Catlett Fire & Rescue Company. A year later, the group opened a new--and grand--station on State Route 28. The $4.5 million facility has almost 20,000 square feet.

The county got a government loan to build the facility, and volunteers cover the cost of gear, apparatus and maintenance, said former chief Butch Flippo.

Inside the main entrance to the station are plaques for Miller and Smith. There's a golden bell between them and the words: "Never Forget." Whenever someone thinks about the firefighters, they're encouraged to ring the bell.

Twenty years ago, Cathy Dyson was working for The Fauquier Citizen newspaper and covered the crash of Wagon 7 and its aftermath. Some of the references in today's story were taken from articles she wrote in 1989.

Date published: 9/30/2009

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