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Campbell-Plumly-Milburn Funeral Home is helping families of first responders in Belmont County in the event of a line-of-duty death by offering its services at no charge through its "Heroes of Our Community" program.
The funeral home will cover the full cost for a traditional burial or cremation for any law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical service worker or dispatcher in the county who is killed while on duty.
Chase Milburn, funeral director for Campbell-Plumly-Milburn Funeral Home, said they want to show their support for "local heroes."
He said he spoke with local first responders in the area about the lack of this type of offering and decided the business would help fill the void.
"I kind of got this idea through another funeral home that I had seen do something similar out of the area. ... We try to take care of the communities, and what kind of prompted it in my head was when I asked my dad, 'If we had a first responder that died, a police officer that got shot or a firefighter that died in a fire or an EMT that was in a crash in the squad responding to an emergency, something along those lines, what would we do for them?' The answer was that we would provide our services for free."
Milburn said the funeral home is working to get the word out to local first responders to ensure they are aware of this program if it is ever needed.
"They go to work every day to protect us. They go to work every day, they don't want to think about it but I think in the back of their head they know it could be the last time they leave their house. We just want to make sure they know," he said, adding that flyers have been sent out to local departments throughout Belmont County.
"It's made to make a situation that's very hard easier on the surviving family."
Milburn said this program is meant for any first responder who lives or works in Belmont County.
"Volunteer, paid -- anybody who would give the ultimate sacrifice protecting our communities -- it's available to," he said.
Milburn recommends first responders alert their departments and families about the availability of the program. Anyone with questions can call the funeral home at 740-425-1616.