Update: Fund set up for family of North Greenville firefighter killed in wrong-way crash

Update (09/18.15):

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money for the family of North Greenville Fire Department's Lt. Jordan Howard, killed yesterday following a crash involving a wrong-way driver who had been chased by Greenville County deputies through Travelers Rest.

Howard, 30, leaves behind a wife and four-month-old daughter.

To make a donation, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/vv4esnmu

Original story:

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Law enforcement personnel with the S.C. Highway Patrol and the Greenville County Sheriff's Office are investigating a wreck that killed a North Greenville Fire Dept. firefighter on U.S. Hwy. 25 near Cool Springs Church Rd., just north of Travelers Rest.

The wreck happened around 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

According to Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis, deputies were pursuing a pickup northbound on Hwy. 25 when it crossed over into the southbound lanes, continuing to travel northward. Loftis said deputies called off the pursuit due to the recklessness of the suspect, but the suspect stuck a southbound motorcycle about 3/4 of a mile further up the road, killing the operator, identified as 30-year-old Jordan Barry Howard.

Howard, 30, was on his way to work at the Tigerville Road station from his home in Marietta, according to Greenville County Coroner J. Parks Evans, when his 2005 Yamaha motorcycle was struck head-on by the 2005 Ford F150 driven by the suspect fleeing from deputies.

In a press conference near the scene, Loftis said the suspect in the pickup truck ran on foot from the wreck but was captured a short time later in the woods.

Loftis said the incident began at TD's Express Mart on West Blue Ridge Drive in Greenville, where one of two suspects in a stolen vehicle call struck a deputy with his pickup truck.

Loftis said the deputy fired at the vehicle but lost sight of the truck as it sped out of the parking lot. It was spotted by another deputy near Cherrydale, where the chase began.

"[The suspect] led us on a wild, high-speed chase, refusing to stop for the deputies," Loftis said.

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