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Richard Lee Sales

Fire Chief

Chief Sales was driving a 2010 GMC command vehicle to a safety conference in Wilmington, North Carolina.  He was traveling on I-40 Eastbound when his vehicle left the roadway to the right, came back onto the road and went off to the left, traveled across the median, across the Westbound lanes, and down an embankment.  The vehicle crashed through a fence, crossed a road, and hit a tree.  After coming to rest, the vehicle caught fire.  The vehicle’s speed prior to the crash was estimated at 90 miles-per-hour in the law enforcement report.

Chief Sales was killed in the crash.

Incident Location: I-40, Statesville, NC 28677 (U.S. National Grid: 17S MV 9922 5829)

photo of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial
Richard Lee Sales was included in the USFA’s annual report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States.

Department information

Reynolds Volunteer Fire Department
235 Charlotte HWY
U.S. National Grid: 17S LV 6615 3523
Asheville, North Carolina 28803

Chief: Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Ledford

Age: 52
Rank: Fire Chief
Classification: Volunteer
Incident date: April 8, 2018 09:30
Date of death: April 8, 2018
Cause of fatal injury: Vehicle Collision - Includes Aircraft
Nature of fatal injury: Trauma
Activity type: Not On Scene
Emergency duty: No
Duty type: Other On-Duty
Fixed property use: Street/Road

Last updated: July 11, 2019