Martinsburg Air National Guard Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. National Guard Airman Dies In Mutual Aid Structure Fire

The West Virginia State Fire Marshall is investigating two suspicious fires it says are connected in Jefferson County, one of which took the life of West Virginia National Guard senior airman Logan Young. The West Virginia State Police is helping with the investigation.

Young, 30, was fatally injured in the early morning hours of Dec. 27 during a mutual aid response call to the second fire. He joined the West Virginia Air National Guard in 2018 and served as a firefighter in the 167th Civil Engineer Squadron.

He previously enlisted into the United States Air Force in 2011 and served on active duty in the security forces (military police) career field before transitioning into the national guard.

A press release from the West Virginia National Guard said the airwing fire department performs approximately 100 to 150 mutual aid agreement calls each year in the local community.

Mutual aid agreements allow neighboring emergency systems to support nearby communities. West Virginia state code allows for the sharing of “manpower, equipment and supply” through the West Virginia Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement.

“Logan stepped up to defend our country and protect our freedoms and served as a first responder here at home,” said Gov. Jim Justice. “We owe everything we have to brave men and women like him. We will do everything we can to provide support to his family and will never forget his service and sacrifice to this great state and to our great country.”

Young was a combat veteran and had previously deployed to the Middle East in 2014. He was the recipient of the numerous awards and decorations to include the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal and National Defense Service Medal.

He was a resident of Martinsburg, West Virginia, and is survived by his mother, father, brother and fiancée.

Major Gen. James Hoyer, West Virginia Adjutant General said “To lose such a talented and dedicated young Airman is truly a tragedy. Logan was a hero in every sense of the word and lived out the Air Force values of service before self in all that he did, which was on full display at the time of his passing.”

Report any information about the fire to the West Virginia Arson Hotline at (800) 233-3473. There is a reward of up to $20,000 for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Federal Researchers Ask Berkeley County Residents for Help Studying PFAS Chemicals

A federal public health agency is launching a study this fall that will evaluate Berkeley County residents’ exposure to the PFAS group of chemicals, which includes PFOA, or C8.

The perfluoroalkyl chemicals are used to make nonstick products and are found in some flame retardants including firefighting foam.

Representatives for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) told a crowd of about two dozen people who attended an information session Wednesday evening that public participation is crucial to the study.

“We hope you all become ambassadors for what we’re trying to do and if you talk about this amongst your neighbors and if you hear of someone who has a letter you encourage them to participate,” said Patrick Breysse, head of ATSDR and the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Environmental Health.

Federal researchers are launching PFAS exposure assessments in eight communities across the country that are near military sites, including Berkeley County. The study was prompted by Congress, which mandated the research in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The exposure assessment is the first step toward understanding more about how PFAS chemicals might affect human health, said Rachel Rogers, an environmental health scientist who leads ATSDR’s work on PFAS.

“The goal of this exposure assessment is to understand how people have been exposed,” she said. “We’ll be doing that by measuring levels of PFAS in people’s bodies, specifically in their blood and in their urine.”

Berkeley County was selected because of its proximity to the Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base. In 2016, the City of Martinsburg shut down its Big Springs water plant after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency testing revealed PFAS in the water at unsafe levels. Groundwater was likely contaminated by PFAS-laden firefighting foam used at the nearby base.

Brad Goodwin, coordinator of the exposure assessment, said the goal of the study is to learn more about how much PFAS residents have in their bodies and where it could have come from.

“So we’ll be able to look at the concentrations of PFAS in people’s blood here in Berkeley County and see how those compared to people that didn’t get exposed through drinking water and understand how much additional exposure there may have been,” he said.

To be scientifically rigorous, the study needs 395 randomly selected participants from the Berkeley County area. Letters inviting people to participate were sent out this week.

In addition to giving a urine and blood sample, participants will be asked to answer a short questionnaire about the ways they may have been exposed to the Teflon chemicals. The researchers will also collect tap water and indoor dust samples at some homes.

Researchers will be in Berkeley County in late September and early October.

Previous research, including from the Parkersburg region where residents were exposed to DuPont’s C8 chemical for decades, has shown exposure to these chemicals at low levels is linked to some cancers and thyroid problems. PFAS chemicals have been detected in at least 10 water systems in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

ATSDR researcher Rodgers stressed the exposure assessments will not address if and how exposure to PFAS through drinking water impacts health.

“Those are important questions that we are looking to answer down the road,” she said. “This exposure assessment is just a first step in that direction.”

The agency is planning on undertaking a health impacts study later.

All residents who live in a household that receive a letter are eligible to participate as long as they are at least three years old, lived in the area for at least one year before May 19, 2016 and don’t suffer from a blood disorder.

Final results from all sites involved in the assessments are expected by late 2021.

New C-17 Training Facility to Open at 167th Airlift Wing

The 167^th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg celebrates the official opening of its C-17 Training System Facility Thursday, September 24, 2015.

At this new training facility, C-17 pilots, loadmasters, and maintenance engine run technicians from the 167^th Airlift Wing will receive a combination of classroom instruction and simulator training.

This will prepare them to undertake air mobility missions on C-17s.

The Martinsburg Air National Guard will be joined by representatives from L-3 Link Simulation & Training to celebrate the opening of the new facility.

L-3 Link Simulation & Training, which began in 1929, is a leading systems integrator that supplies advanced simulation systems, training services, and aircraft contractor logistics support for both U.S. and international military services.

The 167^th Airlift Wing received its first C-17s this time last year, after working with C-5 aircrafts since 2006.