The neighborhood of Laurel Area, Kentucky, is regreting the loss of greater than a lots individuals, consisting of a firemen that invested almost 4 years assisting others, after a hurricane damaged his neighborhood while he was on obligation.
Laurel Area Fire Division Maj. Leslie “Les” Roger Leatherman passed away Friday evening after a twister torn with the Sunlight Hills neighborhood beyond London, Kentucky.
” His home is only obstructs currently; his home does not exist,” Laurel Area Fire Division Replacement Principal Terry Wattenbarger informed FOX Climate.
Leatherman replied to a get in touch with Friday evening and was returning home when the hurricane unravelled.
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Leatherman’s better half, Michelle, was seriously harmed and continues to be in vital yet secure problem. The pair was located in an area concerning 150 to 300 feet far from their home.
” It in fact shows up that he provided his life to conserve her life,” Wattenbarger stated.
Maj. Leslie “Les” Roger Leatherman, of the Laurel Area Fire Division, was eliminated when a twister struck his community on Might 16, 2025. (Laurel Area Fire Division/ FOX Climate)
Wattenbarger is a long-lasting good friend and other very first -responder with Leatherman. Both finished from secondary school with each other and signed up with the volunteer fire division.
Wattenbarger stated his good friend most likely passed away doing what he devoted his life to: assisting others.
” He was simply really a public slave in mind,” Wattenbarger stated.
Neighborhood participants and teams tidy up particles in the community of Sunlight Hills on Might 17, 2025 in London, Kentucky. (Image by Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
After volunteer fire solution, Leatherman ended up being a lifesaver, after that a 911 driver and a Kentucky State Authorities dispatcher. Before his passing away, he was an assistant supervisor at Whitley Area 911.
” His entire life, volunteer and job has actually been only civil service and providing of himself to the general public and attempting to look after other individuals’s emergency situations,” Wattenbarger stated.
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At the very least 21 individuals have actually been verified dead in Kentucky and Missouri after a twister episode. FOX Climate’s Katie Bryne signed up with LiveNOW from FOX’s Josh Breslow with a check out the circumstance in St. Louis, where 5 individuals were eliminated.
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Leatherman’s fatality notes the very first line-of-duty fatality for the division because 1962.
Leatherman is endured by his better half, Michelle; kid, Evan; daughter-in-law, Brownish-yellow; and his 2 grandchildren. Wattenbarger stated he was a pleased moms and dad and liked his kid “constantly.”
” He was a really happy moms and dad. He liked Evan constantly. Evan played football and Les was regularly simply boasting on Evan, you recognize, exactly how excellent he was carrying out in football. And as soon as he obtained grandkids, he was also prouder of his grandkids,” he stated.
In his 39 years of solution, Wattenbarger approximates that Might 16 is the most awful regional all-natural catastrophe in Laurel Area. Both professional firemans replied to a lethal hurricane in March 2012, which asserted the lives of 6 individuals.
Tornado damages in London, Kentucky as seen on Might 17, 2025. (London Mayor Randall Weddle/ FOX Climate)
At the very least 17 lives in Laurel Area were taken throughout the serious weather condition and hurricane occasion on Friday. The casualty additionally remains to climb in the bordering areas of eastern Kentucky.
The Sunlight Hillside neighborhood experienced inconceivable devastation. An additional Laurel Area firemen replying to the hurricane additionally experienced a full loss of his home, Wattenbarger stated.
The division is remaining to reply to the all-natural catastrophe and grieve the loss of an excellent public slave.
” We’re survivors, and we’re mosting likely to proceed. He would certainly desire us to do, which is to offer the solution that he offered his last to the neighborhood of Laurel Area.”
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