Before he ever wore a St. Petersburg fire helmet, William Kenneth Walker served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1945 with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He joined the St. Petersburg Fire Department on February 5, 1946.
On Saturday, October 9, 1948, the fire department staged a public demonstration at the Florida Theatre building as part of Fire Prevention Week. Firefighter Walker, in costume for the demonstration, was to be lowered from a third-floor window by other firefighters while a crowd of some 1,500 people watched from the street below.
Something went wrong, and he fell to the sidewalk. The crowd believed it was part of the act. He never regained consciousness, and the cause of the fall was never determined.
Firefighter Walker died the following day. He was 30 years old, and he had served his city for two years and eight months.
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