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St. Mary's crash kills firefighter
Friday, Feb. 6, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JOHN WHARTON
The SUV from Wednesday's fatal crash on Mechanicsville Road in Chaptico rests against a tree.
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A lookout for a speeding motorist Wednesday afternoon ended when a sport utility vehicle was found crashed in woods off Mechanicsville Road in Chaptico, with a Charles County firefighter dead behind the wheel.
St. Mary's sheriff's deputies reported that speed and driver error were factors in the 3 p.m. accident that killed 20-year-old Matthew Franklin Cooper, but his fellow members of the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad focused Thursday on the loss of a colleague.
Cooper was driving a 1994 Ford Explorer north on the road when he lost control of it on a curve, and the vehicle struck a guardrail, sheriff's deputies report. The SUV went airborne into the tree on a heavily wooded slope on the roadway's southbound shoulder. Police indicated that Cooper was in normal condition when the accident occurred.
No information was available from police as to where Cooper was coming from or going to when the accident occurred, but his part-time employer at a florist business said a builder who recently hired Cooper is building a home in St. Mary's County.
Cooper, also a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves, recently had taken steps to buy a house of his own through his new job and Veterans Administration benefits, the florist said, and Cooper was scheduled for monthly reserve training this weekend in Baltimore.
Cooper's father died almost three years ago, and likely was an inspiration for the 2006 La Plata High School graduate to pursue military service, fellow firefighter Tyler Laroque said.
"He just wanted to do something good," Laroque said.
Cooper also did much good during his more than two years with the fire department, Lt. Brian Godwin said, and awards included recognition for being among the top responders for calls for service.
"He was a good guy, a good asset to the fire department," Godwin said.
The department's members gathered Wednesday evening for a debriefing after they learned of Cooper's death.
"It was emotional. I think it went pretty well," Laroque said. "He was a good member, and a good firefighter."
Sue Tanck, proprietor of the Cattail Cottage Florals Internet business in Mount Victoria, said Cooper had made plans to help her make deliveries during the upcoming Valentine's Day weekend. Cooper was a member of Cobb Island Baptist Church, she said, adding that its members were coming together to comfort his mother.
"She raised her two children by herself, and now she's lost her son," Tanck said. "Everybody's going to try to rally around and try to help the family."
The St. Mary's sheriff's office has requested that any witnesses to the collision call sheriff's deputy Michael George at 301-475-4200, Ext. 2269.
