Seneca Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem remember Chief Wright

The City of Seneca lost one of its heroes this week.  David Wright died in a motor vehicle accident Monday night on Highway 24 at the Double Bridges in Anderson County.  He had been a member of the fire service in Oconee County for more than 35 years.  He was currently serving as the Chief of the Friendship Volunteer Fire Department and a career Captain with the Seneca Fire Department.  Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander said this was a loss for the whole county.  “My heart goes out to the family.  This is an extremely difficult time not only for his family but for the men and women of the fire department.  That night Ronnie and I went over to the fire station as the family was in Anderson at the hospital and all the men and women were there at the fire department.  Many of the sister cities fire departments and the county fire departments actually came out, they were all there in support.  Everybody was stunned and didn’t know what to think and hearts were broken.” Wright was nearing his 24th anniversary with the Seneca Fire Department.  Seneca Mayor Pro Tem Ronnie O’Kelley said he was a great man.  “It is a sad day in our community when you loose somebody like David Wright.  Everyone in Seneca knows David and knows his father, who has owned a business in town for many many years.  David was a guy that I always thought of more as a Christian man sometimes than a fireman because of the way he walked his life and talked his life.  David had a big impact on my nephew, who is now a fireman and David brought him up through the ranks as a little bitty kid, let him hang out with him, they went to church together.  David is a special guy in more ways than one, but this community will really miss him because of who he was not only as a fireman but more of who he was as an individual.”  The funeral for Chief David Wright takes place on Thursday at 2pm at Hepsibah Baptist Church.