Fire department raising money after crash killed firefighter, injured her kids
A volunteer firefighter died Wednesday, and now her South Carolina fire department is rallying support for her family.
Katharine “Katie” Dube died, and her young daughters were injured in a three-car crash, WCSC reported.
The 23-year-old Summerville resident was a volunteer with the Cross Rural Fire Department.
Dube died after the car she was driving crossed the center line and hit a cement truck that was traveling in the opposite direction, the South Carolina Highway Patrol reported.
Lance Cpl. Matt Southern said her daughters were restrained and Dube was wearing her seat belt, but she died at the scene.
Not long after sharing the tragic news on Facebook, the fire department began organizing to provide help.
Hours after asking its Facebook followers to keep Dube’s “family and her fire dept family in your prayers,” it
announced it had launched a GoFundMe account, with the hope of raising money to help pay for Dube’s funeral and medical expenses for her daughters, a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Following the deadly crash, both girls were hospitalized, according to WCIV.
Dube was a single mother, although she was engaged, according to the GoFundMe. It said the money raised would be a great benefit to her fiancé, who is out of work and is tasked with “taking care of the children and trying to help them understand what is going on.”
In the first 24 hours of the fundraiser, more than $3,000 of the $15,000 goal had been raised from 69 donations.
Dube was well regarded in the department, for her personality and work ethic, according to the GoFundMe.
Cross Rural Fire Chief Scott Inabinet said Dube was going to be named the department’s Volunteer of the Year on Saturday, WCBD reported.
Instead, Dube will be laid to rest on Monday.
A service will be held at Knightsville United Methodist Church before she is buried at Boone Hill Cemetery in Summerville, according to Cross Rural, which is inviting other fire departments to participate by bringing their vehicles to a final procession for Dube.
“Katie was an amazing woman and we are going to miss her deeply,” read a post on Cross Rural’s Facebook page.
This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 8:03 AM.
