A Marshfield Firefighter who died in the line of duty was remembered during a national memorial service over the weekend.
Matthew Blankenship was trapped in a building while fighting a fire on July 13, 2013. The 38-year-old, was airlifted to Mercy with severe burns and died a week later.
He was one of 107 fallen firefighters remembered during the 2014 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service Sunday morning at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Blankenship graduated from Marshfield High School in 1993. He joined the Marshfield Fire Department in 2009 after working 20 years at Peterbilt in Springfield as a diesel technician.
He was awarded Rookie of the Year and then Firefighter of the Year in 2010 and became a certified first responder, Fire 1 & 2, HAZMAT awareness and instructor.
Blankenship left behind a wife, Amanda, a son and two daughters.
