LAWTON – Dozens of Comanche County firefighters filed into McMahon Auditorium Tuesday morning to honor a fallen colleague.
A memorial service, with fire department honors, was held for April L. Partridge, 55, of Apache, who died while fighting a grass fire near Edgewater Park, north of Lawton, on March 20.
Also among those in attendance were State Fire Marshal Keith Bryant and Assistant State Fire Marshal James Fullingim, retired chief of the Norman Fire Department.
An “unprecedented” number of fires broke out in Comanche County that day, Public Information Officer Amy Hawkins reported. “There’s not a single department that wasn’t out working somewhere in the county” that afternoon, she wrote, that included not only the volunteers but also the Lawton, Fort Sill and Comanche Nation fire departments.
Brandon Murray, Lawton firefighter and chaplain, officiated at Partridge’s memorial service.
Inurnment followed in Fort Sill National Cemetery near Elgin. Her remains were placed alongside her late husband, David Bullock, in the Columbarium. Arrangements were handled by Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.
Partridge was born in El Paso, Texas, on May 1, 1966, to Carless Alvin and Cecilia Ann (Rousseau) Ward.
One of her greatest accomplishments was her volunteer work as a firefighter for more than 20 years. She served as the chief of the fire department while she lived in New Mexico in her early years, and joined the Edgewater Park Volunteer Fire Department this year when she settled back home.
Fullingim told Southwest Ledger that during his 40 years as a firefighter, Ms. Partridge was the first female firefighter in Oklahoma he knows of who died in the line of duty.
Outside the Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum in Oklahoma City operated by the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association is a Wall of Valor on which are etched the names of dozens of Oklahoma firefighters who died while on the job. Partridge’s name will not be added to that wall because the Edgewater Park Volunteer Fire Department is not a member of the association, said Sheri Nickel, administrative director of the OSFA.
Partridge and her husband enjoyed attending car shows, where they exhibited their own cars, and competing in audio competitions. Family and friends said she never met a stranger, and her giving heart and kindness were evident by the number of people and animals she brought into her life over the years.
Survivors include her six children, Albert, Schuyler, Bryan, Michael, Zack, and Heli; six grandchildren, Glen, Collan, Annabella, Freya, Isabella, and Madison; and other family members and friends.
Information that was available from sources showed that 98 women in the modern era have died fighting fires; that number included 23 women firefighters who were killed in the line of duty in World War II.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, approximately 5% of all firefighters in the U.S. are women.
The NFPA reports that approximately 6,200 American women are full-time career firefighters; the number of female volunteer firefighters in the U.S. could not be located.
The first reported female firefighter in America was Molly Williams, a Black woman, held as a slave, who worked on Oceanus Engine Co. #11 in New York City in 1818.
The first modern-day U.S. woman identified as a firefighter was Sandra Forcier, a combination public safety officer and firefighter, in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1973. The first modern-day female full-time career firefighter was Judith Livers of Arlington County, Va., in 1974.
The earliest volunteer firefighters in America date back to the 1800s. Comanche County today has 20 volunteer fire departments.