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Fire Engine Collides With Train; Firefighter Killed

FAYETTEVILLE (WRAL) -- A firefighter killed when a passenger train collided with his fire truck will be laid to rest on Tuesday.

An Amtrak spokesman says the Silver Palm train collided with a fire truck at the intersection of Cumberland and Orange Streets in Fayetteville 6:30 p.m. Friday. The train was traveling from New York City to Miami.

David Sharp, 31, was killed in the crash. Sharp, an Aberdeen native, was a 12-year veteran of the Fayetteville Fire Department. His wife is pregnant with their first child.

Authorities say Sharp was returning from a fire call.

"We've had people who served as volunteers who were killed in their volunteer capacity, and we're had people who have died outside the job, but we've never had anyone in my tenure killed in the line of duty," says Deputy Fire Chief James Hall.

The Amtrak train had just stopped at the station in Wilson on its way to Miami; it was about a mile away from the Fayetteville station when the crash occurred.

None of the 174 passengers and 15 crewmembers aboard the train were injured.

Officers say it appears the crossing gate was working properly.

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http://www.wral-tv.com/news/wral/2000/0317-train-truck/

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 19, 2000