Butler County has lost five firefighters and police in the line of duty in the past 25 years.

County rescue personnel and rescue-related Web sites name four different fatal incidents in that time frame.

Frank Matis, director of emergency services for Butler County, said he has worked for the county since 1980 and doesn't remember more than those listed here. However, no master list is available for the county, he said.

Those who died in the line of duty:

- Saxonburg Police Chief Greg Adams was killed in December 1980 while conducting a routine traffic stop in the Agway parking lot on Butler Street, Saxonburg. Adams, 31, was beaten and shot twice by the driver of the vehicle he had stopped, Donald E. Webb, then 69, a jewel thief and master of disguise.

- Butler Fire Department member Charles Deal died Aug. 26, 1987, while fighting a fire at a home on South Chestnut Street. The chimney in the house collapsed and Deal was trapped beneath the rubble. The fire was later ruled arson. Deal started with the department in 1972.<br></br>

- State police trooper and Harmony resident Robert Bianchin died Aug. 27, 2003, in one-vehicle crash on Route 422 in Butler Township. Bianchin was in an unmarked vehicle and worked in the vice unit at the Butler barracks. He joined the Butler troop in August 1999.<br></br>- Anthony Murdick, 25, assistant chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department, and Scott Wilson, 25, a department firefighter, died April 8, 2001, during the recovery of the body of a kayaker who had drowned in Slippery Rock Creek at McConnells Mill State Park. The kayaker was trapped underwater about 20 feet from shore in about 15 feet of water. The firefighters were tethered together and secured to a rope line held by firefighters on shore. Wilson's safety rope became entangled with an underwater object and Murdick also became entangled.

Mark Lauer, Unionville chief, said the department has done well in its own recovery efforts since the accident."It was rough for the first couple of years," he said. "Everyone has done extremely well. Any of us know our wishes would be to keep going forward."The wives of the firefighters who died are still active with the department as well, added Lauer."We've also increased our training and increased our membership since then," he said.Benefits available to the relatives of those who died in the line of duty include those from the local department, state and federal government. State and federal benefits are available whether a firefighter is volunteer or paid. The amount of benefits varies by department and depends on the circumstances involved in the death.

The federal benefits, called Public Safety Officer Benefits, were established in 1976 as a type of back up system to assist in the recruitment and retention of police officers and firefighters."Congress was concerned that the hazards involved with the jobs and the low level of state and local death benefits might discourage qualified individuals from seeking careers in public safety," according to the U.S. Department of Justice Web site.The one time payment for death benefits is a maximum of about $267,500, according to the Web site.The state and federal agencies also offer disability benefits and help with higher education for spouses or children of those who died on the job.