Emergency responder dies while helping at Route 9 crash
A Sussex County Emergency Medical Services employee died Aug. 13 after power lines fell on him while helping at a crash on Route 9 near Gravel Hill Road.
Thomas Wilson Berry III, 23, had stopped about 4:24 p.m. to help a motorist who had crashed into a utility pole. Police said a Salisbury, Md., man, 37, was driving a Chevrolet Malibu eastbound on Route 9 west of Gravel Hill Road when it tried to pass a Toyota Camry also headed eastbound. The Malibu sideswiped the left side of the Camry and then veered off the road, striking a utility pole, police said.
Berry was helping the Salisbury man when the utility pole snapped and the electrical wires fell on Berry, police said. He sustained life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Division of Forensic Science will determine the official cause of death.
The Salisbury man was taken to an area hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The driver of the Camry, a 54-year-old woman from Milton, was not injured during the crash.
Route 9 was closed for about 12 hours while the scene was investigated and cleared.
In a press release, county officials said Berry had been a logistics technician for Sussex County EMS since 2022, and he served as a volunteer firefighter with the Georgetown and Ellendale fire companies. That training and his response as a volunteer firefighter no doubt served Berry as he moved into action after coming across the crash on his way back to county offices following a field assignment earlier in the day, officials said.
“We are beyond heartbroken at this loss of such a dedicated and caring young man who exemplified public service until his last moments on this earth,” said Sussex County Council President Michael H. Vincent, a lifelong member of the volunteer fire service. “His selfless act in a moment of need is one that will be long remembered by his friends and colleagues, and by all of us at county government. As tragic as this loss of life is, his heroism is something we should all be proud of and thankful for, and we hold his family, co-workers, and all his brothers and sisters in the fire service in our hearts and prayers in this most difficult time.”
County flags have been lowered to half-staff in Berry’s honor. Public safety personnel and vehicles lined the streets of Georgetown the evening of the crash, making their way past the fire hall as the body was transferred from the incident scene to the Delaware Medical Examiner’s Office, officials said.
Dozens of fire trucks from every Sussex County department, fire police, Delaware State Police and Sussex Emergency Medical vehicles accompanied a procession with the hearse from Stockley to Short’s Funeral Home on Aug. 14.
County Administrator Todd F. Lawson said grief counselors would be available to comfort colleagues and fellow employees affected by Berry’s sudden and tragic loss.
Dozens of fire trucks from every Sussex County department, fire police, Delaware State Police and Sussex Emergency Medical vehicles accompanied a procession from Stockley to Short’s Funeral Home on Aug. 14. County and state workers lined South Bedford Street and The Circle to pay tribute to the fallen first responder.
