Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
Copyright 2007 Charleston Newspapers
The Legislature has approved a bill that would provide a $50,000 benefit to the families of first responders who are killed in the line of duty.
The action comes less than six weeks after two emergency responders were among four people killed in a Raleigh County convenience store explosion.
The House of Delegates sent House Bill 2801 to Gov. Joe Manchin early Saturday, the last day of this year’s 60-day legislative session.
If Manchin were to sign the bill, the legislation would cover volunteers as well as professional firefighters and emergency medical personnel.
The death-benefit legislation took on a higher profile after the Jan. 30 propane gas explosion at the Flat Top Little General Store in Ghent.
Ghent Volunteer Fire Department firefighters Craig Lawrence Dorsey, 24, of MacArthur, and Frederick Allen Burroughs, 51, of Ghent, were killed in the explosion.
The blast occurred as workmen were preparing to switch out propane tanks. Five people were injured in the explosion. It also leveled the store and damaged several nearby homes and an elementary school.
Though the bill was passed after the explosion, its effective date has been set as Jan. 1, meaning Dorsey’s and Burroughs’ families could be eligible for the benefit.
“I’m sure [the families] can use it,” said Delegate Melvin Kessler, D-Raleigh, who had pushed for the legislation. “One left a 5-year-old child, and they have funeral expenses.”
Similar legislation has been proposed previously, but never garnered enough support to pass.
Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper also had supported making the legislation retroactive, citing the January death of Tennille Davis, Kanawha County’s lead paramedic. Davis was killed in a traffic accident while on her way to teach a class in the field.