Stephen E. Skipton Sr., 41, former Bellmawr Park fire chief

Stephen E. Skipton Sr., 41, of Goose Creek, S.C., former chief of the Bellmawr Park Volunteer Fire Department in Bellmawr, died of complications from bladder cancer Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

While also a full-time emergency medical technician for Camden City Emergency Medical Services every year but one from 1994 to 2010, Mr. Skipton responded to the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001, Chris Williams, a fellow Camden EMT, said.

"Steve was one of the first to go up [from Camden] the day that the towers fell, and was stationed at the Meadowlands" in East Rutherford, N.J., Williams said.

In the days following, Williams said, he, Mr. Skipton, and others from South Jersey worked out of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the West Side of Manhattan, and "treated injured rescue workers who were working at the pile," the site of the fallen towers.

Mr. Skipton and others "went back and forth" from South Jersey to Manhattan, and "worked 12- to 16-hour shifts for several days over several weeks," Williams said.

Born in Camden, Mr. Skipton lived in Gloucester City from 2004 to 2010 before moving to South Carolina.

He was a volunteer firefighter for the Bellmawr Park company from 1994 and "worked his way up to chief" in 2001, Williams said.

For a time, he said, Mr. Skipton was also an emergency medical technician for the Voorhees Fire District.

In 1994, Mr. Skipton also became a full-time EMT in Camden and, with a year out for similar work in Newark, N.J., was with the Camden unit until 2010.

In 2002, Williams said, Mr. Skipton earned the Camden City EMS Class A Award for rescuing a man from a burning house.

In his free time away from emergencies, he maintained a website, www.phillyfirenews.com, on which he posted photos of fires and firefighting equipment that he and others shot, Williams said.

After moving to South Carolina, he began full-time work for the Goose Creek City Fire Department, his wife, Jennifer, said.

In South Carolina, his wife said, he also had been a part-time salesman for Family Medical Transport since 2012 and a sales consultant since 2013 for Seagrave Fire Apparatus of Clintonville, Wis.

Besides his wife, Mr. Skipton is survived by his mother, Bertha; sons Stephen Jr. and Drew; daughters Isabella and Marissa; and a sister.

A memorial service was set for 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Camden County Emergency Services Training Center, 420 Woodbury-Turnersville Rd., Blackwood, followed by a reception there.

Following Mr. Skipton's death, a life celebration took place on Thursday, Aug. 28, at the Northwood Church in Summerville, S.C.

Donations may be sent to the Camden County Hero Scholarship at https://www.camdencountyhero.com.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccannhealey.com.

610-313-8134 @WNaedele