Tim Padgett Way - firefighters dedicate street to fallen soldier

Tim Padgett Way - firefighters dedicate street to fallen soldier
November 30, 2008 - 9:02 PM
Kimberly White
Daily News
The Northwest Florida Daily News - Fort Walton Beach,FL,USA
GASKIN - When Army Sergeant and DeFuniak Springs native Tim "Timmy" Padgett was killed last year in Afghanistan, his friend and former co-worker Paul Trynoski began thinking how he and other Darlington/Gaskin firefighters could honor their fallen comrade.

After considering ideas, Trynoski remembered that the street that runs along Walton County Station 3 did not have a name.

Then he recalled a training session during which Padgett was teaching other firefighters a hose-lay technique.

"People were questioning what kind of hose lay this was and what it was called, and I think it came down to Tim saying, ‘We're going to do it the Tim Padgett way,' " Trynoski said. "And after that, I always thought of that when we were doing things with Tim - that we were doing it Tim's way."

At 11 a.m. Saturday, Darlington/Gaskin firefighters will gather at the Gaskin station to name that street "Tim Padgett Way."

Padgett's mother, Glenda Penton, and his 10-year-old daughter, Summer, will be invited to unveil the sign and stroll down the two-block street. Trynoski and former Fire Chief Ronald Prokop said all of Padgett's co-workers and friends are invited.

One firefighter affectionately nicknamed Padgett "Rubber Band" because he was always so wound up, Prokop remembered with a laugh. Prokop said Padgett was so full of energy that he often had to be restrained from acting on impulse.

"I'm sure that's the reason he was in the position where he was killed in Afghanistan. He didn't want to be second," Prokop said. "Some of his friends that I talked to at the funeral said, ‘Tim had to be the first one out there.' Knowing Tim, I betcha he took somebody else's spot ... You had to really hold him back because he would give 110 percent in everything he did."
click post title for more