ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — An Asheville bridge has been renamed for a firefighter who died last year while battling a blaze at an office building.
FireRescue Magazine/FirefighterNation Asheville Medical Center Coverage
Family members, public officials and firefighters representing more than 100 departments attended the naming ceremony Wednesday morning. The former Smoky Park Bridge is now the Capt. Jeff Bowen Bridge.
Bowen was a 13-year veteran of the Asheville Fire Department who died while responding to a fire in a medical office building on July 28, 2011. Nearly a dozen other firefighters suffered injuries.
A state Transportation Department committee had decided not to name the bridge after Bowen but reconsidered after thousands of people signed an online petition. DOT had a practice of not naming bridges or roads after city or county employees because local governments can honor those workers.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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