ANTHONY J. SANFILIPPO
Courtesy of The Daily Times, Delaware County, PA
BROOKHAVEN, PA -- Christopher Kangas, an eighth-grader at Northley Junior High School and a junior fireman in Brookhaven, died early yesterday morning at Children's Hospital from multiple head traumas as a result of being struck by a 16-year-old driver while answering a fire call on his bicycle Saturday.
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Officials at the Brookhaven Fire Company said the viewing and funeral for junior firefighter Christopher Kangas, 14, will take place on Thursday, May 9. Viewing will be from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Bateman Funeral Home in Brookhaven, followed by a procession to the Borough Hall at 2 Cambridge Road, where the memorial service will take place. Officials said Kangas, a one-year member of the department, will receive a full firefighter's funeral. Any company wishing to send apparatus may contact the station at 610-872-8093.
The family requests that any donations be sent to the Brookhaven Fire Company, at 4218 Barlow in Brookhaven, PA 19015. The department can be reached by email at station52@brookhavenfd.org
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"We're just devastated," said Jon Grant, President of the Brookhaven Fire Company. "He was just a great kid. I can't believe it happened. It's worse than a nightmare."
Kangas, who would have turned 15 tomorrow, was responding to an alarm that he heard while sitting in the home of Brookhaven Policeman Mark Messner when the accident occurred.
"We were just sitting there getting ready to have a barbecue and we heard the sirens," said Messner, who has only been on the Brookhaven police force for one of his 12 years in the field. "He was asking me, 'Is that us, is that us?' Then he got on his bike. I told him to be careful, and that I'd put the hamburgers on."
Kangas proceeded to pedal to the Brookhaven Police Station where he checked in with Officer Adam Brown who was on patrol Saturday.
"He asked me if I knew the nature of the alarm," said Brown, who has been on the Brookhaven force for nearly three years. "When I told him I didn't know he just left. The accident happened about two minutes later.
"When I got the call that it was him I was stunned and shocked. I had just seen him. In my three years on the force, Saturday was one of the hardest and longest shifts that I've had to (endure)."
Although the accident is still under investigation there is no indication of wrongdoing on the part of the driver according to Brookhaven Accident Investigator Richard Fuller.
"Basically it's a tragic situation involving two inexperienced kids. One on a bike and one behind the wheel of a car," Fuller said.
The driver of the car had only had his driver's license for two weeks prior to the accident.
As it turns out, the fire call was not in Brookhaven at all.
"We got a call to be on stand-by for a house fire in Concordville," said Grant. "We hadn't even left yet, when we got the call on Christopher's accident. We sent a truck over there right away, and our EMTs were doubly devastated to find out who it was when they arrived on the scene."
Pennsylvania law does not allow junior firefighters to actually be involved with the fighting of a fire. They are not allowed in a burning building, or near a car fire. Yet, the time they spend in the firehouse gives them valuable experience.
"He was learning the job," Grant said. "He was training at the fire house, and learning what it took to be a fireman. Mostly, when we would get a call, he would help us get ready to go, or stay back at the house to help out whoever was still around. Every free moment he had he was in the firehouse. All he wanted to do was be a fireman. It's what he enjoyed the most."
Kangas had been a junior firefighter in Brookhaven for one year.
Aside from spending a good amount of time in the firehouse, another of Kangas' hobbies was collecting trading cards. Most teenage boys collect trading cards of their favorite sports heroes, but Kangas wasn't interested in getting Barry Bonds, Shaquille O'Neal, or Donovan McNabb.
"He was a real big collector of police officer trading cards," said Brown. "He would stop in the station pretty often, or stop us when we were out on patrol. Most of the time it was just to say hi, but he was really into those trading cards and was always asking us about them."
Many of the Brookhaven police officers befriended Kangas, but none more than Messner.
"He was my neighbor," said Messner. "He used to spend a lot of time at my house with me, my wife, and my 2-year-old daughter.
"He always wanted to help out. If my wife was busy with something, Chris would be like a babysitter for my daughter and keep her occupied. If my wife came home from grocery shopping, Chris was right there to help her bring the bags in the house.
"I told my wife if she absolutely had to go out of the house at night to ask Chris to go with her. He wouldn't even pause. He was willing to tag along with her anywhere she went. He was just a tremendous kid."
As a tribute to Kangas, every Brookhaven fire truck and emergency response vehicle gathered at the accident sight yesterday where a number of fireman spoke to honor their fallen comrade.
"We have a lot of young guys in the company," Grant said. "It hit them especially hard. They needed to say some things as part of the mourning process, and it was something nice for Christopher too."
Despite the fact that Kangas did not die in an actual fire, Brookhaven Fire Company will provide him with full honors at his funeral.
"We'll bring out all the trucks and everything for the kid, Grant said. "He died responding to a fire call as if he was on duty."
A tragedy of this kind won't go away easily, especially for Messner and his family.
"My daughter walked out on our lawn this morning and pointed to his house and said 'Chris. Chris,'" Messner said."She's only two years old. How do you explain to her that he's gone? There's no way. There's just no way."
Requiem For a Junior Firefighter