ROSE QUINN
Courtesy of The Daily Times, Delaware County, PA
In the end, Chris Kangas was with"family" yesterday. Fire horns sounded as First Engineer Dave Montella backed Engine 52-1 into the Brookhaven Fire Co. The station doors closed, leaving Kangas' mother, sisters, grandparents and other relatives alone with fellow Company 52 volunteers for a last tribute, a private goodbye.
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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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Slowly, uniformed firefighters lowered Kangas' silver casket from atop the shiny pumper to a cleared spot on the floor. Just a few feet away, black bunting was draped on the wall where the fallen junior firefighter's turnout gear once hung.
As a lone piper played "Take Me Home," emotional company members offered their best - and final - salute to their young comrade who died Sunday of injuries after being struck by car on his way to answer a call.
Brookhaven Fire Chief Rob Montella stood for a moment at a memorial table with Kangas' mom, Julie Amber-Messick. The table was covered with numerous mementos tracing her 14-year-old son's life. There was a thank-you card to members from Kangas' sisters, Amanda and Christine.
Still at the table, the boy's mother and his chief exchanged brief private words. On a day filled with tears, together they managed a laugh or two.
Earlier at the Bateman Funeral Home, Montella and Amber-Messick stood at opposite ends of Kangas' open casket, greeting countless mourners young and old, uniformed and non-uniformed, from near and far.
The line outside the funeral home began forming about 8:30 a.m. Ladder trucks from Garden City and Concordville formed an arch across Edgmont Avenue, almost joining the funeral home and the firehouse.
Visitors paid respects 30 at a time.
According to borough fire officials, as many as 350 firefighters and emergency personnel from 52 departments with 66 pieces of apparatus responded to Kangas' funeral call. Among them was a firefighter from Massachusetts who said he drove eight hours straight for the privilege to offer his condolences.
Photographs were on display inside Bateman's. One montage showed Kangas with a fire hose and was labeled, "Aspiring Hero."
The memorial card itself was a picture of Kangas in his fire gear.
Kangas' dream was to be a full-fledged Brookhaven firefighter. Many who knew him best said he would have loved knowing that firefighters donated pieces of clothing so he could be laid out in a Class A fireman's uniform.
Shortly before 1 p.m., pallbearers from the firehouse carried Kangas' flag-draped casket outside. They passed an honor guard. The casket was lifted atop the awaiting pumper.
Engine 52-1 joined a long procession to nearby borough hall for a eulogy.
Firefighter Chris Rodgers and junior firefighter Ryan Jackson rode on top with Kangas.
Among those who spoke at the eulogy was Brookhaven's 2nd Assistant Chief Charles Leslie. Kangas was inquisitive from the get-go and at one point, wanted to know how long it would take him to become a fire chief, he recalled.
"Somewhere," Leslie told the crowd, "Chris is a chief."
Two hours later, Kangas' casket was returned to the fire station. Bugler Curry Moyer played "Taps" as borough firefighter/EMT Nicole Pagano and Lt. Ryan Cornog removed the flag, folded and presented it to Chief Montella to give to Kangas' mother.
Brookhaven's First Assistant Chief Joe Zamonski presented her with Kangas' fire hat, while Leslie offered her a plaque thanking Kangas for his dedicated service.
The family rejoined firefighters for a private ceremony inside the firehouse.
It was from there that 18 Brookhaven firefighters answered their 123rd alarm for the year. The call - for a pedestrian struck on May 4 in the 100 block of East Maple came in at 5:49 p.m.
The information is highlighted on the back wall .
What volunteers didn't immediately know was that they were on their way to find Kangas lying in the street with injuries that would prove fatal hours later .
Fire 'Family' Bids a Sad Farewell