[StBernard] New Orleans firefighters die in Long Beach crash

[Westley Annis]

New Orleans firefighters die in Long Beach crash
Published: July 7, 2013 Updated 2 hours ago

By ROBIN FITZGERALD - rfitzgerald at sunherald.com

LONG BEACH - Two New Orleans firefighters died in a crash early Sunday when
the pickup they were traveling in struck a tree, Harrison County Coroner
Gary Hargrove said.

The driver, Tommy Ashby Jr., 28, of Chalmette, La., and the front seat
passenger, Scott Blanchard, 27, of Metairie, La., died at the scene. Two men
in back seats were taken to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport.

The one-vehicle crash was reported at 1:44 a.m. Sunday at U.S. 90 and Beach
Park Street.

Hargrove said the Ford F350 pickup truck was westbound and speeding when the
driver lost control and the truck hit a tree in the median.

Hargrove said neither of the men who died were wearing a seatbelt.

Ashby and Blanchard were members of the New Orleans Fire Department, the
coroner said.

Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell said the Long Beach Fire Department
also responded to the scene.

He said the injured men also are from Louisiana. One is a 30-year-old from
Chalmette. The other is a 26-year-old from Violet.

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http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/07/4781463/new-orleans-firefighters-die-in.
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