December 18, 2015, will mark the 30th anniversary of the tragic accident that claimed the life of Kathryn Murren Hippensteel. Hippenesteel was a volunteer firefighter riding the tailboard of a engine when it overturned en route to a three-alarm fire in Abbotttstown, placing her in York Hospital where she died of injuries 13 days later. She was the first firefighter to die in the line of duty in Adams County and the first female to die in the line of duty in Pennsylvania. A memorial now hangs in the Adams County 911 Emergency Operations Center in Gettysburg.
– Fire News photos by Steve Roth
