The News and Advance
BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. — About 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, an alert blared in the garage of Roanoke Fire-EMS Station No. 5. There was a report of a structure fire on Ninth Street. Firefighter paramedic Alex McKinney and his crew suited up in less than a minute and climbed into the fire truck. It was the second fire call they responded to Tuesday. For a day in the life of a firefighter, it was business as usual.
But Monday, McKinney had to deal with a fire of a different sort. He found himself in a situation without his uniform, his equipment, his truck or his crew.
It was his day off, and the 25-year-old Bedford native and his fiancee, Velvet Hicks, were headed to Lynchburg from Roanoke on U.S. 460. They were going to spend a leisurely afternoon shopping. But right after they drove past Woodhaven Nursing Home in Montvale, they saw a car flipped over in a ditch.
Full story: Firefighter was off duty but on his game in U.S. 460 rescue