Clayton, Ohio, firefighter/EMT Cynthia Verburg was killed on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 when a tree weighing more than two tons smashed the cab of the ambulance in which she was riding.

Verburg, who was 47, had been checking fire hydrant flows with her partner, Mickey Retman. The two were driving away in the ambulance when the large beech tree fell onto the vehicle. Although injured, Retman was able to reach the radio to call their co-workers for help. They responded immmediately, but Verburg was pronounced dead at the scene.

Verburg had been with the Clayton Fire Department for eighteen years, and leaves a husband and children.