W.Va. county sets up grant to honor fallen firefighter

By Rusty Marks
The Charleston Gazette

KANAWHA, W.Va. — Members of the Kanawha County Commission voted Thursday to set up a special grant fund to honor a volunteer fireman who died in the line of duty in March.

Donald "Donnie" Adkins III drowned March 13 while helping with a swift-water rescue operation during heavy flooding in Beaver. Adkins, a member of the Glasgow Volunteer Fire Department, was one of three firefighters thrown into the water when their boat capsized while attempting to help people trapped by floodwaters.

"That morning we saved 15 lives, and we were going back to for four more [when the boat capsized]," Glasgow Fire Chief Marty Blankenship told county commissioners Dave Hardy, Kent Carper and Hoppy Shores at a regular meeting Thursday.

Firefighters, friends and family — including Adkins' father, Donald Adkins Jr. and his mother, Lynn Sigmon — attended the meeting.

Carper announced the special $10,000 grant fund in Adkins' honor after firefighters clad in dress uniforms led the assembled crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Carper said the $10,000 Firefighter Donald Adkins Memorial Training Grant would go to a county fire department every year on a competitive basis, in addition to any other funding the departments receive. The fund was conceived as a way to honor Adkins' memory and provide fire departments with extra training.

Adkins' father thanked all the firefighters who took part in the rescue operation and have offered support since the accident, and said he would continue to do so. "I just want everyone to go home, hug your kids and tell them you love them," he said.

"You never know from one minute to the next."

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