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| Lowering the flag Acme-Delco-Riegelwood firefighters lower the casket of volunteer firefighter Mike Browne to the Columbus County Firefighters Color Guard Wednesday after a procession up Old Stage Highway for his funeral at Riegelwood Baptist Church. Browne was one of eight people killed in the tornado that destroyed dozens of homes Nov. 16. Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist |
Tornado victim Browne is laid to rest
By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer
More than 125 firefighters and family members turned out Wednesday for a fireman’s final call.
Mike Browne, 25, was a member of Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire and Rescue. He died Nov. 16 when a tornado destroyed the home he shared with his father and stepmother. His 6-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, is still hospitalized.
Browne’s funeral was one of three such services for tornado victims Wednesday. His casket was brought from Wilmington on an ADR fire truck. The pumper was escorted by fire and rescue vehicles from across the area.
Aerial trucks from ADR and Fair Bluff used their towers to create a huge arch to support an American flag in front of the church. Browne’s casket was embossed on the inside with a fire and rescue logo. A slide show projected above the church pulpit showed Browne from his childhood into fatherhood. One of the pictures was of Browne and Cheyenne on the porch of the home that was destroyed in the tornado. Another showed the father and daughter with two family dogs who also survived the storm.
Around 175 people – including more than 100 fire and rescue personnel – filled the Riegelwood Baptist Church to memorialize Browne. He was a member of ADR for two and a half years, Fire Chief Steve Camlin said, but Browne was active and eager to help others.
“You could count on Mike,” he said.
Camlin said Browne had a “soft spot” for children, and was often seen comforting young victims at fire and car crash scenes. That affection was especially evident for his daughter, Camlin said. The young father was found a short distance from his daughter after their home was destroyed.
Rescue Chief Donna Hammond said Browne recently completed his Emergency Medical training, and was excited about the newest facet to his fire career.
“He was always optimistic,” Hammond said. “He was devoted – he spent two nights a week for eight months in class so he could be an EMT.”
Other speakers described Browne’s commitment to work, his family, and his daughter Cheyenne. Pastors Charles Hester and Jim Browning led the service. Both men have been working alongside ADR and other volunteers in tornado relief efforts.
While the service was for a fallen firefighter, Browning used the time to make note of the trauma of the storm and its aftermath, and to offer reassurance to the survivors, the relief workers, and those who were not affected.
Browning is also a firefighter, and told the congregation that the pain of the “last five days won’t go completely away.”
“You can take comfort in knowing God loves you,” Browning said. “We can’t understand why this happens, but it did, and now we have to heal.”
N.C. Firefighter Association Chaplain Jim Rupert read a letter from Browne’s daughter Cheyenne. Browne was a single father, and what times he wasn’t working as an electrician, “he was with Cheyenne” Rupert said.
Heather Coleman, Amber Pridgen and Matt Robinson also read tribute poems to the late firefighter.
Racked by sobs, Chief Hammond and Browne’s mother embraced when Hammond presented the family with a folded flag. Camlin presented Glinda Browne with her son’s fire helmet, which she clutched as the family was escorted out of the church.
In his eulogy for Browne, Camlin called Browne quiet but reliable.
“He was the one who would turn out whatever the call,” Camlin said. “It didn’t matter if it was exciting or routine, he’d be breathing down your neck, saying ‘what can I do to help?’
“Mike was a rock,” Camlin said, “and we’ll miss him.”