Truck kills deputy, fireman

Members of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and the Verona Volunteer Fire Department are mourning today's loss of two of their own.

"I received a call I hoped I'd never get," Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.

Gene Thomas, 51, a volunteer fireman with the Verona Volunteer Fire Department and Steve Boehm, 36, a deputy with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department died Saturday after a northbound truck struck them as the two responded to an early morning traffic accident on U.S. 17. Deputy Bill Hall, who was also injured, was taken to New Hanover County for treatment and was later released.

Deputies and firefighters were directing traffic in the area due to limited visibility on the highway because of fog and smoke from what base officials said were the smoldering remains of gun range fire.

Capt. Rick Sutherland of the sheriff's department said military officials requested assistance with traffic along the stretch of U.S. 17 south of Jacksonville between Dixon and Verona just minutes before the report of an automobile wreck in the same area.

Boehm responded to that wreck, which was on the southbound side of the highway, while Hall and members of the Verona Volunteer Volunteer Fire Department responded to a separate wreck in the northbound lanes, according to information provided by the Sheriff's Department. After Boehm crossed U.S. 17 to assist them, a tractor trailer driven by 51-year-old Robert Lee Kornegay of Fayetteville plowed into the men.

Highway Patrol Lt. Everett Clendenin told the Associated Press that charges are pending against Kornegay.

Brown said the scene was total chaos.

He said military officials made their request for assistance at 4:50 a.m. Saturday. Four minutes later the southbound accident - involving a vehicle towing a boat - was reported. As emergency responders continued to arrive, they came upon the other accident in the northbound lanes.

A vehicle traveling northbound then came through the area and sideswiped an emergency vehicle. Brown said Hall told him he, Boehm and Thomas then heard a woman yelling for help. As Boehm and Thomas went to look for her, Hall decided to back up his patrol car to create a larger buffer around the area. He told Brown that when he got out of his vehicle and saw the headlights of a tractor trailer approaching, he immediately yelled out, "Run! Run!"

The tractor trailer hit Hall's vehicle, knocking it to the side of the road, and several others before coming to a rest against an emergency vehicle.

Brown said he thinks the tractor trailer hit Boehm and Thomas full force, killing them instantly, before ramming the other vehicles.

The series of collisions involved a total of eight vehicles, took two lives and impacted many more.

Brown said he personally delivered the news of Boehm's death to his wife, Kim Lawrence, as soon as possible, so she would not hear about it from anyone else. In addition to his wife, Boehm is survived by a son, Daniel Lawrence; daughters Crystal, Sam and Tiffany Lawrence; and a brother, Dennis Boehm, all of Jacksonville.

Boehm, who graduated from White Oak High School in 1990, has been with the sheriff's department for 10 years and was the school resource officer at White Oak, Brown said.

Brown described the deputy as quiet and reserved.

"SRO was more than a job to him, he was a mentor for the school - it was a project for him, not a duty, and he was committed to that job," Brown said. "We will miss him and his family is going to miss him."

Since school ended Wednesday, Boehm had just been reassigned to the patrol division.

"His wife told me he was really excited and looking forward to the assignment," Brown said.

A memorial service for Boehm will be held at White Oak on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Thomas had served about 30 years with the Verona Volunteer Fire Department, according to VFD Capt. Kevin Davis. It was something he was born to do.

"He has grown up in the fire service," Davis said. "His father was a firefighter, his two brothers are firefighters ... they enjoyed careers as volunteer firefighters and it takes a special breed to do that."

Davis said Thomas was a familiar sight at the station who would gladly be there any time he was needed.

"He enjoyed volunteering and he enjoyed doing the work," Davis said. "He was a (Department of Transportation) worker, he enjoyed doing that work and he enjoyed volunteering. He lives right across the street from the department and he was always the first one in the building."

He said the department was shocked by the news they had lost one of "our family."

Thomas is survived by his wife Nancy Thomas; daughter, Nicole Thomas of Jacksonville; mother Geraldine Joy Thomas of Verona; and two brothers, Wayne Thomas and Toby Thomas of Verona.

Funeral services for Thomas will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday at Jones Funeral Home Chapel in Jacksonville.

Lindell Kay contributed to this report. Contact Topsail area reporter Suzanne Ulbrich at sulbrich@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8466.