Sister of First Bryan Firefighter Killed on Duty Remembers

Feb. 20--When Helen DeLeon heard the news Saturday that two Bryan firefighters had died in the line of duty, she couldn't describe the feeling as anything other than dej... vu, or do much else besides grieve.

DeLeon, of Caldwell, is the older sister of Richard B. Lopez, the first local firefighter to have died in the line of duty.

Lopez, a 30-year-old four-year veteran of the Bryan Fire Department, died the morning of Aug. 24, 1978, when the Tropicana Apartments on Kent Street caught fire.

A bystander insisted that a woman was still trapped inside, so he went in after her, and never returned.

It was later determined that the apartment was empty and that Lopez had died of smoke inhalation.

"Mama came to the house around 6 a.m.," DeLeon said. "She said Richard was hurt. So I said let me get my family up and we'll go to the hospital. Then she told me he died. It broke my heart. We put him down to rest and life went on. He died doing what he enjoyed doing."

DeLeon said that she and Lopez, two of 11 children, were inseparable.

"We did a lot of wrong things," she said, laughing. "We would get in a lot of trouble. Mama and Daddy would tell us 'no' and then we'd walk right out the back door and do it again."

She said the two of them talked often about school and about their futures.

Lopez wanted his sister to join the Army, but she chose to be a wife and mother instead.

"He just wanted me to have a good life. He knew we didn't have a lot," she said. "He always wanted to be a firefighter. That was his dream. He wanted to be around people, help people, that was just his dream."

More than 34 years after his death, DeLeon said the pain of losing her brother is with her every day.

Two shelves on a bookcase in her living room are decorated with photos of her brother, clad in an Army uniform, fishing and smiling with family members.

"It made me feel proud, very proud of him," DeLeon said, showcasing the photos and reflecting on her brother's death. "But again, it broke my heart because he lost his life."

Lopez left behind a wife, Betty, two small children and an unborn baby girl.

"It's sad that he didn't get to meet his daughter, or his grandkids. He would have loved them," DeLeon said. "It broke my heart again when I heard about [Eric] Wallace and [Greg] Pickard. I just thought about the mom and the children. It just hurts."

On Sept. 11, 1978, Bryan Fire Station No. 3 was dedicated in memory of Lopez.

On Saturday, DeLeon prepared lunch and dropped it off at the fire station as a gesture of thanks on behalf of her family, she said.

"They're fathers, they're sons, they're brothers. Their families and the community have suffered a great, great loss."

DeLeon said she is not at all surprised by the overwhelming support that the community has poured out over the recent tragedy, just as they did in 1978.

"I would just tell the families to take it one day at a time. Leave it in the good Lord's hands," she said. "It's something that they will never get over but with God's strength and their fellow firefighters, it will help."

Copyright 2013 - The Eagle, Bryan, Texas