LODD 360 - FIF002
Charleston, South Carolina

Melvin Edward Champaign – Firefighter 16


Firefighter Melvin Champaign was 46years old. He was an Army veteran, aspiring pastor, and Tae Kwan Do black belt. Melvin Champaign joined the Charleston Fire Department two years ago. Before that, a varied career had taken the 46-year-old to the West Coast and back. He leaves behind a teenage daughter and two younger boys in Washington State. Family from his native James Island spoke of him with glowing admiration. "He was a man in a million," said his older sister, Gardenia Champaign-Moore. "You had to meet him to believe what this man is made out of." Champaign worked out of Station 16 on Ashley Hall Plantation Road, as did five of the other nine firefighters who died. Colleagues recognized his fashion sense when he showed up for the first week of fire class wearing a leather hat with a feather in it. They also noted a penchant for jokingly quoting Bible verse to get through a situation. He wanted to become a pastor. And he once heard saying, "I just want to help people." Relatives Mary and Mikell Fludd raised him on James Island. He went to Fort Johnson High School, where he wrestled and played baseball. Afterward, he joined the Army and resettled in Tacoma, Washington, near Fort Lewis. He served in the infantry but hurt his back several years ago in an accident involving a military truck. He later worked as a welder. As a firefighter, he was among the crews who responded to a fatal December 22, 2005, blaze at the Indigo Creek Apartments that killed two young siblings and uprooted six families. Assistant Engineer Sean Rivers, 30, also remembered lighter times at the fire station, full of card games and pranks. Champaign continuously worked with youth. His nephew, Tony Moore, remembered him almost like an older bother. "No matter what the circumstances were, he always had a smile," he said. "We thank him for making us all feel better."
- Charleston City Report