The usually lively Morristown firehouse was enveloped in grief yesterday, as half a dozen firemen swapped loving stories about Chris Trumpf. The 25-year department veteran died of cancer at his South Carolina home Wednesday.
The close-knit group told tales of a generous man who was as quick to help strangers threatened by flames as he was to assist his friends in the department.
"He's selfless with work," said Capt. Gary Desjadon. "Chris was special. He always did his job, always looked to help, whether he was here or somewhere else."
Trumpf joined the paid department after a decade of working as a volunteer fireman in his hometown of Whippany and a year or so of serving on the volunteer Washington Engine Company in Morristown. He retired in January and moved to Myrtle Beach with his wife, Deborah. The couple had three children and four grandchildren.
At 54, he succumbed to myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder in which the bone marrow does not produce enough blood cells. That illness evolved into leukemia after Trumpf received a bone marrow transplant in Seattle nine months ago.
