Scott M Berry - LODD
December 17, 1997
The
call started as a boat on fire which caused a brush fire. Scott Berry
and brother Bryent Berry was en route to the scene in a 1000 gallon
engine. The engine right front tire went off the road. Lost control,
engine went into ditch line then into a culvert. The engine rolled
which crushed the cab trapping both men inside. Both of them were
wearing their seat belts. Bryent was flown to Erlanger Medical Center
then eventually recovered from his injuries.
Robert Berry (Scott's Father)- LODD
July 17,1934 - January 19, 1967
Robert Berry, Lawrence Conner and other firefighters were responding
to a structure fire at the Donnelly Building located near 2nd Street in
Marietta, Ohio.
The roof collapsed, which made the side wall blow out. This cause
debris to fall on top of both firefighter. - Chief Thomas Dempsey
Pastime Bowling Alley (2nd St.) On Jan. 19, 1967 a fire caused the death one Marietta Firefighter, Robert Berry, age 33
From The Marietta Times
Tragedy Revisits FireFighter's Family
By Roger G. Kalter
Times Senior Writer
Like father, like son.
The Family of Scott M. Berry faces the
tragedy of his death in Cleveland, Tenn., this week much as the
Marietta community did 30 years ago when his father, Robert J. Berry
died fighting a blaze as a Marietta firefighter.
Virginia Burnside, formerly Virginia Berry, is burying her son
Saturday as she buried her husband after his death when a wall collapsed
on him Jan. 19, 1967, fighting a fire in the Donnelly Builing in the
200 block of Second Street.
"With a lot of prayers and help, we'll make it," Virginia Burnside said Friday night at Fike Funeral Home in Cleveland, Tenn.
Scott M. Berry, 33, died Wednesday when the Taylor Volunteer Fire
Department tanker truck he was driving as a volunteer firefighter
rolled over, crushing him and seriously injuring his brother, Briant,
who was a passenger in the truck. The two brothers were responding to a
brush fire with the 12,050-gallon tanker truck.
Their father, Robert J. Berry is the only Marietta firefighter to die
in the line of duty here. Berry, 32 at the time, was on a ladder when a
wall on the four-story Donnelly Building collapsed in 1967. He fell to
the ground and was crushed by bricks and debris.
Firefighters Joe Thomas and Larry Conner also were injured.
Former Marietta Fire Chief Dick Dutton, a lieutenant at the time, recalls Berry falling just feet away from him.
Dutton received a cut on the back of his head. For a few split seconds,
he though the collapsing wall was going to strike him, too.
"The whole wall came out and blew out the ends of the building." Dutton recalled.
Burnside said her son recently joined Taylor department because it was something he decided he wanted to do.
"Scott was a very happy person" said his mother, who had remarried about 18 months after her husband Robert died. "He just loved kids, nothing seem to bother him, he was just happy go lucky. He Had a lot of his dad's ways, joking and all."
News stories of the $450,000 fire in Marietta that killed Robert berry and stories in the Cleveland (Tenn) Daily Banner reveal many of the similarities between the father and son.
Robert Berry joined the Marietta department at age 30, Scott Berry joined the Taylor Volunteer Fire Department at age 31.
Robert Berry had five children. Scott Berry had three. Robert Berry worked part-time as a cab driver. Scott Berry's paying job was that of a mixer in the McKee Food Co. making Little Debbie cupcakes.
Each firefighter worked about two years with their respective department prior to their accidental deaths.
Burnside, who remarried about 18 months after Robert Berry died. moved with her family to Cleveland, Tenn., in 1969, but still has a number of family members in Marietta.
She said her son Briant underwent extensive surgery on his hands after Wednesday's crash, but is doing much better now.
"He's going to make it"
Just as the Marietta community and local firefighters created a trust fund for Robert Berry's five children, a similar fund has been established in Cleveland, Tenn., for Scott Berry's children. Christopher Ryan Berry, Jessica Megan Berry and Miranda Paige Berry.
"Life kind of repeats itself sometimes, but this is in a bad way." Dutton said Friday night.
The family's requests memorials for Scott Berry's children be made to The Cleveland 100 Cleveland, Tenn., 37364-0002.