MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) - Eighty-seven years ago, on March 1, 1939, two Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Department firefighters were killed while responding to a call for service... That was Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Chief Mark McCluskey, who told WGNS that the deaths of Winfred Vaughn and A.C. Cartwright marked the first two line-of-duty fatalities in the department’s history.

According to Chief McCluskey, the two firemen were en route to a reported grass fire when their apparatus was struck by another vehicle... The afternoon crash tragically claimed the lives of both men. Records indicate that Fire Truck No. 1 collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Spring and Lytle Streets in Murfreesboro.

Winfred Vaughn was 36 years old at the time of his death. He left behind his wife, Mary Rebecca (Tomlinson) Vaughn. A.C. Cartwright was just 20 years old when he was killed in the 1939 crash. The young firefighter had married his wife, Mary Bryan Hayes, only one month earlier, on February 28, 1939.

In addition to the two fatalities, five other individuals were injured in the collision. Fire truck driver Johnny Gray was thrown from the apparatus when it overturned but reportedly survived the crash.

The tragic accident remains a solemn chapter in the history of Murfreesboro’s fire service, serving as a reminder of the risks firefighters face each time they respond to an emergency call.