Interact View/Post Messages of Condolence

Diana Stricker
Republished Courtesy Tribune-Review

The Lloydsville Volunteer Fire Department is making preparations to honor a 17-year-old firefighter killed over the weekend while en route to an emergency call.

Nathan A. Pescatore of Latrobe died Sunday, about two hours after his pickup truck collided with a farm tractor in Unity Township. Officials at the Lloydsville Fire Department said Pescatore is the first firefighter killed in the line of duty in the department's history.

"It's an extreme loss," said Scott Campbell, a lieutenant with the Lloydsville Fire Department. "We're all like brothers here. We're just one big family."

Campbell said firefighters will hold a service at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Frederick Funeral Home Inc. in Latrobe.

The Lloydsville department will not participate in today's parade in Latrobe, said firefighter Lynn Mulheren. But all of Lloydsville's trucks will be draped in black in memory of Pescatore. Latrobe's first truck in parade formation and its aerial truck will be draped in black, said Mulheren.

Campbell said firefighters were still attempting to cope with the shock yesterday. Several members of the Lloydsville department responded to the accident scene along with crews from Latrobe, Crabtree and Derry Township.

Pescatore served as a junior firefighter in Lloydsville for almost two years before being promoted to senior firefighter in May. Campbell said Pescatore followed in the footsteps of several family members who joined the fire service.

"He was very active here," Campbell said. "He was a very good kid, always eager to learn."

In addition to answering emergency calls, Pescatore also helped with the department's fund-raising events.

"It's a tragic situation," said Pete Tenerowicz, Unity Township Emergency Management director. "We'll try to move on from here."

State police at Greensburg said Pescatore was responding to a fire call when his 1991 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck failed to negotiate a curve on Long's Road, near the Latrobe-Crabtree Road. Police said the left front of Pescatore's southbound truck struck the left front of a northbound farm tractor operated by Albert Obarto, 72, of Latrobe. The bucket of the tractor demolished the cab of the truck.

Pescatore was flown by emergency medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian hospital, Pittsburgh, where he was pronounced dead at 5:19 p.m. Sunday. A spokesman for the Allegheny County Coroner's Office said an autopsy yesterday confirmed that Pescatore died of blunt force trauma.

Pescatore was the son of Gloria Sue Sproch Pescatore of Latrobe and the late William J. Pescatore. He was a student at Greater Latrobe High School, and also worked for R & M Machine Shop in Latrobe. He was a member of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, Latrobe, where a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Latrobe's first truck in parade formation Friday and its aerial truck will be draped in black, said Lloydsville firefighter Lynn Mulheren. The Lloydsville fire department will not participate in the parade in Latrobe but will drape all its trucks in black in memory of Pescatore, he said.

The fire that Pescatore was responding to was at a residence near the intersection of Donohoe and Rolling Acres roads near East High Acres in Unity Township. Officials from the Crabtree Fire Department said crews were able to contain the fire to the garage.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were 112 on-duty firefighters killed nationwide in 1999 - the highest number in 10 years. Nine of the deaths were in Pennsylvania.