LEXINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) — Flags all across North Carolina will fly at half-staff on Monday and Tuesday as the state honors a fallen hero.
On Monday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper ordered for all U.S. and N.C. flags at state facilities to be flown half-staff beginning immediately until sunset on Tuesday in honor of Capt. Ronnie Metcalf.
Metcalf, a Lexington firefighter, died Friday from injuries sustained while fighting a house fire. He will be brought to a funeral home in a procession on Monday, according to the Lexington Fire Department.
“I was saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Lexington Fire Captain Ronnie Metcalf,” Cooper said in a statement. “He served the Lexington community with honor and distinction for many years and my prayers and gratitude for his life are with his friends and loved ones at this time.”
Metcalf was with LFD for 19 years.
Procession
At 6 p.m. on Monday, Lexington Fire says the procession will bring Captain Ronnie Metcalf’s body from Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Health to JC Green and Sons Funeral Home in Thomasville. Metcalf’s family and the Denton Fire Department will be part of the procession.
After leaving Wake Forest Baptist, the procession will travel on U.S. 52 south to exit 193A. The procession will turn right onto Biesecker Road to pass Fire Station 3, where Metcalf worked, and turn left onto West Center Extension and left onto West Center Street. The procession will turn left onto North Main Street at The Square and continue to the funeral home.
March 26
Just after midnight on March 26, the Lexington Fire Department responded to a house fire on West 5th Street. When they arrived, they could see fire and smoke at the back of the house, and firefighters went inside to work on extinguishing the fire. A few minutes later, they were ordered to evacuate the building, and crews realized one firefighter was missing.
Search teams found Metcalf inside, and he was flown to the hospital with severe burns. He reportedly had burns on 60% of his body.
The Lexington Fire Department says Metcalf died on March 29.
The cause of this fire is under investigation.
Connected arrests
On Saturday, law enforcement arrested Brandon Alan Hoskins, 31, of Lexington, and Stacie Blair Stegall, 37, of Lexington, on warrants for breaking and entering into the home that had caught fire on West 5th Street.
Police say they arrested the pair at a home on the 30 block of Mill Street, which they had also entered illegally. They were both charged with an additional count of misdemeanor breaking and entering.
As they served the warrant, investigators found evidence of illegal drug possession and charged the pair with felony possession of methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia.
Hoskins and Stegall were taken into custody at the Davidson County Jail and are being held without bond, pending their first appearances in court.
Police say the investigation is active and ongoing. It involves several law enforcement and emergency agencies.
Community support
As Metcalf underwent treatment in the hospital, the community rallied around him.
Community members initiated a fundraiser on GiveInKind.com to assist Metcalf’s family with medical expenses.
People who did and did not know Metcalf prayed for him in the Hillside Park Baptist Church in Thomasville on March 27. He’s attended the church for nearly 17 years as an ordained deacon and was a member of the church choir.
A few hours after watching Metcalf pass away on March 29, Pastor Steven Chipps sat down in the pews at Hillside Park Baptist Church in Thomasville to reflect on the life and memory of the fallen Lexington fire captain.
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“He leaves a large void … It’s one of those things that when the Lord made Ronnie, he made one of him. He was one of a kind,” Chipps said.
Fire departments from not only the Triad but across the state showed their support for their fallen comrade. Fire engines from multiple North Carolina fire departments gathered by the Lexington Fire Station after his passing, and 50 firefighters visited Metcalf’s family in the hospital, Chipps said.
As the community continues to mourn his passing, Chipps is asking everyone to rally around Metcalf’s family.
