Young Pa. Firefighter Gave The Full Measure

Maybe you saw him jogging along the back roads near Abbottstown. He was always out there, neighbors say. The young firefighter lived by the motto "Be Strong" and could be seen, even in December, wearing a pair of gym shorts and grinding out the last quarter mile.

Along Kinneman Road, he would run. Past the wooden fence that is now broken and splintered. Past the small embankment where his Jeep ran off the road and crashed through a neighbor's yard.

Brandon Little was buried Monday and hundreds crowded into an Abbottstown church hoping to find that same strength to carry on.

They filled the pews and spilled out into the aisles, family and friends. Along the walls stood firefighters from dozens of companies, some from as far away as Harrisburg and Baltimore. They snapped a crisp salute when the name of the 19-year-old was recalled.

Little was remembered for bear hugs, gentle words of encouragement, and his dimpled smile that seemed to fill a room.

"You couldn't have a bad day around Brandon," said Fire Chief Steve Rabine at United Hook and Ladder Fire Co. No. 33.

Little, a volunteer at United Hook and Ladder, was killed Wednesday night while responding to a garage fire near New Oxford. He lost control of his Jeep and veered off the road, just half a mile from his home.

He was flung from the vehicle and died on that stretch of road he's jogged countless time before. He was with the fire company for two years and already certified as a level-one firefighter. He graduated from New Oxford High School in 2010 and now a wooden cross on Kinneman Road bears the motto: "Be Strong."

During the funeral service on Monday, the church bell was struck three times -- its ring was loud and sharp and painful. Three rings, in firefighter tradition, means the blaze is out, the call to duty is complete. And when the sanctuary rang out, the priest said Little's call to duty has ended.

Then they repeated the firefighter prayer:

"God, whenever flames may rage, give me the strength to save some life," they recited together. "And if according to Your will I have to lose my life, please bless with Your protecting hand my family and my friends."

The funeral was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church near Abbottstown and a letter was read during the service. It was written by Brandon Little's mother Nancy and stated that she still can't understand. The grieving mother can't understand why her son was taken from her and from the fire company.

She doesn't know why someone who brought out the best in people, who made the community safer, could be gone so suddenly.

Maybe, he was needed elsewhere, she wrote.

Maybe they needed someone, up in heaven, to run the gym and lead the fire company.