La. Community Mourns Firefighter Killed in Crash

Sept. 02--They came by the hundreds, in fire trucks and cop cars, wearing their uniforms or dark, pressed suits.

One by one, they streamed into the St. John Community Center to say goodbye to firefighter Spencer Chauvin, who was killed Sunday while responding to a traffic wreck on Interstate 10 in LaPlace.

As they left the private visitation and memorial service, more than one mourner quoted a biblical verse that graced a floral arrangement inside: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

"Spencer ... left an example," said Derrius Taylor, who grew up with Chauvin. "Think less of yourself and give your life to the whole, because that's what he did."

The 36-year-old father of two had joined other firefighters Sunday morning at the scene of a minor crash on the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near the Belle Terre Boulevard exit.

As they worked the wreck, a speeding bus filled with laborers seeking work in flood-ravaged Baton Rouge slammed into a fire truck stopped on the highway, and then plowed into other vehicles. Chauvin died after the collision threw him over a guardrail and into swampy waters some 40 feet below. Two of his colleagues were injured.

Four days later, fire engines from around Louisiana led hundreds from the somber visitation in LaPlace to Chauvin's funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Edgard. The route was lined with people waving American flags.

Two others died in the tragic pileup, including 21-year-old Jermaine Starr, who was driving another car. His passenger, Vontarous Kelly, 33, succumbed to his injuries Thursday at University Medical Center, State Police said.

Starr and Kelly were from Moss Point, Mississippi, and also were going to Baton Rouge to work for a contractor.

The bus driver, who was living in the United States illegally and did not have a driver's license, was jailed on counts of negligent homicide, among other violations.

Throngs of firefighters and other first responders from the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas came out Thursday to pay their respects, citing among other acts Chauvin's heroic efforts to put out a house fire in 4 feet of floodwaters during Hurricane Isaac. Chauvin was also remembered for his bravery in fighting a massive blaze that erupted at a LaPlace elementary school.

Some went to great lengths to honor Chauvin. A group of New Orleans firefighters performed "Going Home," "Dawning of the Day" and "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes and drums, because Chauvin once said he wanted bagpipes played when he was buried.

Firefighters from Zachary and St. George in the Baton Rouge area created an arch using a pair of ladder trucks and then hung an enormous American flag from it. The fire truck carrying Chauvin's casket, and his helmet and jacket -- unwashed from the day he died -- drove under the arch to lead the procession.

St. George Fire Department District Chief Jack Jones -- whose truck formed half of the arch -- said he was still grappling with Sunday's tragedy, a sobering reminder that returning home after a shift is never guaranteed for first responders.

"I work these calls every day. He did nothing different from what I would've done," Jones said. "Unfortunately, someone wasn't paying attention. This one didn't need to happen."

Copyright 2016 - The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.