July 24--A volunteer firefighter who was killed in a crash during Monday night's torrential rainstorm was headed to an emergency call.
Bruce L. Sensenig, 20, of 2235 Colebrook Road, North Cornwall Township, was declared dead at the scene of the 6:29 p.m. crash on Route 322 just east of Spangler Road,not far from the farm of his parents, Bruce and Ella Sensenig, where nearly 20 vehicles were parked in the driveway Tuesday afternoon.
Sensenig was headed toward the nearby Quentin Fire Co. to join other volunteers in responding to an emergency call on Route 72 when he lost control of his Audi sedan in heavy rain, Cornwall police said. The
car veered broadside into the westbound lane where it was struck on the passenger side by an oncoming Chrysler Town & Country minivan driven by Wayne Geltz, 63, Lititz.
Geltz was taken to Hershey Medical Center by ambulance, where he was listed in good condition Tuesday morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Police have not determined if speed played a factor in the crash. And the investigation by the Lebanon County Accident Reconstruction Team, which was hampered by Monday's weather, is ongoing, said
Cornwall police Chief Bruce Harris.
Quentin Fire Chief Stan Singer was among the first on the scene Monday with other members of his station.
"I've been doing this 20 years, and this is the first time it's been personal," the chief said. "This is a devastating loss to the community."
Singer said Sensenig was recently married and was employed at Farmer Boy Ag, a farm equipment and supply store in Myerstown. He volunteered with the fire company a little more than a year ago and took to it right away.
"He really had a love for the fire service, and was very well liked," Singer said. "He was strong as an ox, and just a good kid."
Singer said Sensenig also had a good sense of humor, a claim supported by his locker in the station garage, which is still filled with his turnout gear. Taped to the top of the red wire cage is the name Willis.
Bruce Willis, the Hollywood actor, was the name Sensenig gave to Singer when he first volunteered and the fire chief had trouble deciphering his signature. The name and joke stuck.
Sensenig's comrades mourned Tuesday as they came and went from the fire station, located in a quiet Quentin neighborhood at Lebanon Street and Walnut Lane. They spoke quietly to each other but were reluctant to share their feelings publicly and declined to comment.
The grief associated with Sensenig's death was shared by some of his friends on a memorial Facebook page that appeared on the social media site Tuesday morning.
It showed two photos of Sensenig, an avid hunter and fisherman, taken last year. In each, he is squatting in a field with rifle in hand and a satisfied smile on his face after a successful day of hunting water fowl.
Also offering condolences at the Quentin Fire Co. Tuesday was state Fire Commissioner Edward Mann.
He said it is his practice to visit fire companies when a member dies in the line of duty. So far four firefighters have died this year and seven in the past 12 months, he said.
"After 13 years (as fire commissioner), it doesn't get any easier," Mann said. "It still takes a toll on me."
Mann and Singer spoke privately for about an hour in the fire company's social hall.
Afterward, Singer said, Mann offered whatever assistance the state could provide to help the fire company and Sensenig's family in memorializing him, including a funeral with full honors.
That decision will be made in consultation with Sensenig's parents, Singer said.
"Because they are strict Mennonites I'm not sure what they are going to want to do," he said.
Sensenig also was involved in a crash in November.
Careless driving did play a factor on the snowy morning of Nov. 27, when Sensenig's pickup truck crashed head-on into a sport utility vehicle driven by 84-year-old Charles Hornickell of South Lebanon Township on Rocherty Road, just west of Route 72. Hornickell was taken to Hershey Medical Center in serious condition but eventually recovered.
The crash was investigated by the Lebanon County Accident Reconstruction Team, and several days later, Sensenig was charged with careless driving and an unspecified vehicle violation.
Singer said Tuesday Sensenig was not driving to an emergency when that crash happened.
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Copyright 2013 - Lebanon Daily News, Pa.
