| On Friday, November 19, 2010, the Longwood Fire Company family came together to honor the life and service of one of their most dedicated members; Jim McGovern. The members gathered at the station early and made their final preparations for Jim's ceremony. The members that rode with Jim most often were asked to bring their brother's gear to the memorial service. Chief Engineer Dennis Mellinger drove Engine 25-1 with Senior Hoseman Mert LaBare alongside him in the officer's seat. Firefighters Janell Gottschalk, Chris Keenan and Aidan Keenan rode in the crew area with Jim's gear as Engine 1 led a silent procession of Longwood apparatus, escorted by Chief McCarthy of the Kennett Township Police Department, into Kennett Square for the service.
As the procession made their way past the Kennett Fire Company, they passed under the American Flag which was held high in the air by Ladder 25 and Tower 24 (Kennett Fire Co.). The members created a passageway from the apparatus to the main entrance of the Red Clay Room and saluted as Jim's gear was brought inside. Once everything was in place, the members proceeded in and took their place together while Jim and his gear were brought onto the stage. The service continued with members of Jim's family and friends taking the time to share stories of how Jim touched their lives. Assistant Fire Chief A.J. McCarthy recounted the story of taking Jim to his first fire on Fleetwood Street in Coatesville and spoke about how Jim excelled in every task he was given. Firefighter Janell Gottschalk spoke on behalf of the entire company and told stories of how her friendship with Jim developed and how Jim was always breaking our equipment. Their stories brought many laughs and many tears, especially as the slideshow created by EMS Supervisor Tom Amico began to play. As the service came to a close, the members gathered in the center of the room and again created a passageway for Jim to be brought back to the place where those in attendance would be given a chance to pay their last respects. Once in place, the members saluted Jim one last time and the ceremony ended. A delicious lunch was offered by the Red Clay Room to everyone present.
The ceremony brought a close to a very long and difficult week for the members of the Company. On Monday, November 15, the company decided as a whole that we needed to take time for ourselves to make sure we were ok and to see that we all got through this together. The decision was made to take ourselves out of service for the remainder of the week and Career EMT Brett Mitchell immediately began finding standy companies to cover us for the week. At Fire Chief Matt Ruoss's suggestion, the members gathered for dinner every night at 7pm. These nightly gatherings helped all of us come together and push through the week as a family. Deputy Chief Dennis Bisson coordinated events with the family and Brett became our very first "Battalion 25" as he scheduled and responded with the standby crews. It is often difficult to schedule standbys for an 8 hour day and Brett Mitchell scheduled them for 116 hours straight. The company would also like to thank EMT Steve Nuse and Paramedic Chip Swezda for acting as Batallion Chiefs throughout the week.
Our Fire Company received an outpouring of support from other fire companies in ways that amazed every one of us. We would like to personally thank the companies that came to help us when they were needed. Your dedication and support is an excellent example of what the "brotherhood" of the fire service means and we will never forget it.
From Chester County:
The Twin Valley Fire Department (Engine 69-2)
The Cochranville Fire Company (Engine 27-1) and Duty Officer Brian Drennen (Deputy 27)
The Lionville Fire Company (Engine 47-1)
The West Bradford Fire Company (Engine 39-3) and Duty Officer Glenn Allison (Chief 39)
The West Grove Fire Company (Rescue 22) and Duty Officer Matthew Wood (Deputy 22)
The Wagontown Fire Company (Engine 35) and Duty Officer Todd Ziegler (Chief 35)
The Avondale Fire Company (Rescue 23) and Duty Officer Mike Decker (Chief 23)
The Minquas Fire Company (Engine 46-2)
The East Brandywine Fire Company (Engine 49) and Duty Officer Joseph Edwards (Chief 49)
The Kennett Fire Company (Engine 24-1) and Duty Officer Steve Melton (Chief 24)
The Kimberton Fire Company (Tower 61)
The Goodwill Fire Company (Engine 52-2)
The Union Fire Company of Oxford (Engine 21-3)
The Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company (Housed and cleaned LFC Apparatus, staffed overnight crews, etc.)
The Chester County Fire Marshall's Office (FM John Weer coordinated services)
The Chester County 911 Dispatchers (Fielded calls to assist with finding standbys)
The Good Fellowship Ambulance Corp. (Ambulane 55 during services)
The Southern Chester County EMS (Medic 94 during services)
From Lancaster County:
The Bart Township Fire Company (Engine 5-1-1)
The Christiana Fire Company (Engine 5-2-1) and Duty Officer William Meadowcroft (Deputy 5-2)
The Gap Fire Company (Truck 4-2)
The Quarryville Fire Company (Truck 5-7)
The Eden Fire Company (Truck 2-4)
The Strasburg Fire Company (Truck 5-10)
The Willow Street Fire Company (Engine 5-12-2)
The Lafayette Fire Company (Truck 6-3)
The Lancaster Township Fire Company (Engine 6-6-2)
The Rohrerstown Fire Company for Duty Officer William Nonnemacher (Captain 6-7)
Lancaster County Wide Communications (Coordinating transfer companies to our station)
From Montgomery County:
The Washington Fire Company (Squad 36)
The King of Prussia Fire Company (Tower 47)
The Abington Fire Company (Ladder 100)
From Delaware County:
The Green Ridge Fire Company (Engine 63)
The Media Fire Company (Snorkel 23)
The Concordville Fire Protection Assoc. (Tower 59 available from their station)
From New Castle County (Delaware):
Cranston Heights Fire Company (Engine 14-3) |
