Md. Families Mourn Deaths of 4 in Helicopter Crash

A viewing for Bunker will be tomorrow from 2 to 8 p.m. at South Potomac Church, 4915 Crain Hwy., White Plains. The funeral will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at South Potomac Church.

Volunteer EMS Tonya Mallard, 39

Minutes after the car crash Saturday night, two ambulances from Waldorf's Station 12 headed to the scene.

In one ambulance was Mallard, a volunteer emergency responder and mother of two boys who began volunteering with the station in May 2004, although she had taken a year-long break recently.

When responders decided that the teens needed to be flown to Prince George's Medical Center, Mallard volunteered to accompany them.

"Tonya stepped up and said, 'I'll go with them,' " said Dan Stevens, Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department chief.

At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Stevens received a call at home: The helicopter was overdue.

Stevens and dozens of other volunteers went to the station to wait for updates. At 2:45 a.m., police confirmed that Mallard had died when the helicopter crashed.

At 5 a.m., about 40 volunteers gathered in a circle at the fire station and took turns describing their feelings, Stevens said. Many recalled their last encounters with Mallard, the tall, compassionate and friendly woman with an "infectious smile."

"People say, 'That could have been me. That should have been me,' " Stevens said.

On Sunday afternoon, volunteers lowered flags at the three Waldorf stations and draped the buildings with black fabric. "I can't stand draping a building," said Sue Perry, a professional county emergency medical technician who helped affix the fabric to Station 12. "It could have been any of us."

Dozens of people stopped by Mallard's home in Waldorf to offer condolences to her husband, Ken, and their sons, ages 11 and 15.

A viewing will be held tomorrow at Lighthouse Baptist Church, 3150 Middletown Road, Waldorf, from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. Mallard's funeral will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at Waldorf's North Point High School, 2500 Davis Road.