Biographical Info
Age: 17
Additional Info: Alethea Faye Nixon was a junior firefighter with the Asbury Volunteer Fire Department. Her brother Chris, 21, who is a firefighter with the AVFD, was also in the apparatus at the time of the accident. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated for a broken back and second-degree burns from fire fueled by the vehicle’s spilled motor oil.
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Nixon was killed when the apparatus she was riding in lost its brakes, smashed through the railing of a single-lane bridge and tumbled into a creek.
Date of Incident: July 26, 2006
The Huntsville Times
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — The tiny Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church couldn’t hold the hundreds who gathered Sunday to mourn the death of a 17-year-old firefighter trainee killed responding to an alarm.
Dozens huddled near the church’s exits and windows, many showing strong emotion as they caught parts of the service inside.
Friends and neighbors of all ages cried for Alethea Faye Nixon, who was killed Wednesday night when a fire truck answering an alarm lost its brakes and smashed through the railing of a one-way bridge, tumbling at least 30 feet into a rocky creek. ...
Full Story: Hundreds mourn ‘such a sweet girl’