KWOS Jefferson City News Authority
You’ll notice bright red lighting at three Boone County Fire Protection District buildings again tonight to honor an assistant chief killed one year ago today in a horrific crash on I-70 near Columbia.
Boone County Fire District assistant chief Gale Blomenkamp tells 939 the Eagle that turning a fire station red to honor a fallen firefighter is a long-standing tradition. He praises the legacy and impact of the late assistant chief Bryant Gladney.
“What people like to do is just remember who he was, what he was and what he meant to the organization and the citizens of Boone County. And everybody has their own special memories or their own things that they remember most about him. And I think that’s what people should really focus on,” Blomenkamp says.
The fire district has led three locations in red: BCFPD station one near Lake of the Woods, the Boone County Fire District training center near the sheriff’s department and the district headquarters on I-70 drive northwest. Blomenkamp says fire station 1 at Lake of the Woods is where Gladney started as a firefighter and became a lieutenant. Blomenkamp says those three locations are where Gladney spent his 25 years of service with the district.
“He was a paramedic for a long time and he actually ran ambulance services here in town, as well as being a volunteer and working for the fire district. So his passion was EMS,” says Blomenkamp.
Gladney’s passion was also teaching.
Gladney had his lights activated and had his vehicle in a blocking posture to protect an ambulance on I-70, where his vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer one year ago today near the 135-mile marker. Authorities say the truck driver, 64-year-old Kevin Brunson, never hit the brakes. Brunson died this past May.
