Fire Explorer Jordan Kinscherf - North Madison, CT

[SageVigiles 1,194]

Madison Grieves Death of H.S. Senior

Ted Koppy

Thursday June 11, 2009

Madison (WTNH) - Hundreds gathered on the Madison Green tonight to grieve the loss of one of its high school seniors. Jordan Kinscherf, only 18-years-old, unexpectedly died at his home Thursday morning.

One week before graduation? That's a damned tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family, as well as his Brothers with North Madison Fire.

Rest in Peace Brother.

-Major Alex Cardella, Danbury Police Explorers

Edited June 12, 2009 by SageVigiles

[FiftyOnePride 100]

I heard about this this morning and would like to reiterate my condolences to all involved. He belonged to a tight group of explorers I understand and this sudden loss will not be easy to bounce back from, everyone is in my thoughts tonight. RIP Jordan.

Joshua Schultz

Millerton Fire Company

Edited June 13, 2009 by FiftyOnePride

[IzzyEng4 427]

Here is the link to the North Madison Volunteer Fire Company's website, affectionately known in the state as the NoMads.

http://www.nmvfc.org/

Just a terrible loss and he had partaken in a drill hours before with the company.

Rest in Peace.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Very tragic. Condolences to his family. My God 18 yrs old. Rest in Peace lad.

[FirefighterJr 2]

Jordan, May you Rest in Peace. Thoughts and Prayers with the brothers of the North Madison Fire and his friends and faimly. You have served well, now it is time to rest.

-Fire Explorer Mateusz Domanowski

Metropolitan Fire Association

Staten Island, New York

Edited June 13, 2009 by FirefighterJr

[Remember585 815]

Heartfelt condolences to the Kinscherf Family and the North Madison FD from the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department.

John Munson

2nd Asst. Chief

Croton-on-Hudson NY Fire Dept.

[rfdu39 89]

Rest In Peace Jordan.

Patrick Feeley

Former member of PCFD Explorer Post 700.

Edited June 13, 2009 by rfdu39

[sr71 1]

My prayers and condolences to Kinscherf Family, and the North Madison FD , may he rest in peace.

Steven Rivieccio

Member of the Noroton Fire Department

[fitzjr11 17]

Thoughts and Prayers to the family, dept and explorer post

Lake Carmel Explorers 2041

[x635 4,066]

Tragic....but there's a reason for everything, and I know he was needed for a higher purposes. My condolences to his family and friends during this horrible and vague time.

Seth G.

[DOC22 1]

Thoughts, Prayers and heartfelt condolences to Jordan's family and friends as well as the North Madison Fire Department and Explorers from the Croton Falls Fire District

Croton Falls Fire Department

Chris Richie, Past Chief CFFD

[ex-commish 490]

Very sad. May he rest in peace.

[WassaicFF 2]

May he rest in peace.

[gizmo31 1]

On behalf of Explorer Post 700 of the Port Chester Fire Department we would like to send our prayers and best wishes to our brothers and sisters of the North Madison fire deptartment as well as to the Kinscherf family. No one would ever expect a person of this young of an age to be taken so quickly but I,m sure there are better plans in mind for Jordan . May he rest in peace and may he always be looking down upon you giving you all his inspiration.

firematically yours,

Bob Suhre

Explorer Post 700 advisor

[T. John 21]

Rest in peace, Jordan. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and all of the members in North Madison. There is a network of people to help if you need it.

[Guest]

Hi folks, I just stumbled across this so sorry I'm late. I thought I had all the forums covered but I guess I missed this one. My name is Matt and I'm the lead advisor for the Nomad explorer post. If you saw our website back in June, yes I am that Matt that posted up the information.

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during that aweful time in June and describe a little what went on and how amazing our Explorers handled themselves. I still get choked up reading these and trying to reply even two months later. Someone earlier in this thread said that we have a very close knit explorer post and this would not be easy to bounce back from. That could not be more true. Many of our explorers are close friends outside the fire department, they grew up together since they learned how to walk, Jordan being one of them. Some lived next door and across the street from Jordan, putting them right there that morning when we got the 911 call. And running an explorer program with a group such as that doing drills and meetings all the time, the kids start to grow on you over the years and they become part of that "big disfunctional family" that a fire department is. But being that close is also what got everyone including me through it in one piece. Friends and family both inside and outside the FD for both senior members and explorers came through and we all got through it over time.

The department started to arrage a CISD meeting for the explorers that day. Somehow word spread at the school that anyone could come if they wanted and our chaplin ended up running a CISD session for almost 200 high school students that packed into our station's meeting hall. They had nowhere else to go and really nobody else to turn to for this kind of thing so we were happy to do it. It gave everyone a chance to talk about it and vent and help eachother. The explorers setup poster boards and esile pads for people to write notes and messages which were totally filled up. They also made a photo slideshow that was scrolling on the projector screen the whole time which was really nice.

Later on, they made the small memorial out of the gear under the 1/2 mast flag you saw in the pictures. Other departments, friends, and random people passing by added flowers and candles to it for days. We even had it lit up at night. For days cars were beeping their horns going by, which I guess is a common way to acknowlege this.

For the wake, the department and explorers did a color guard along side the casket. At the end, we did a flag presentation to Jordan's family with the entire department lined up behind us. One of our DC's is a Marine so it was done all official and proper. This was an emotional event to say the least but it meant a lot to his family and those of us who participated in it. There were firefighters and explorers/juniors from all over the state at the wake which also meant a lot to his family. They were so amazed.

At the funeral, we were the pallbearers with the whole department and folks from other departments lined up outside. It was an honor to do it but it was tough for all of us walking down the isle with his casket in a church full of his friends and family looking on in tears. There was no burial, so at the end when we put that casket in the back of the herse and closed the doors, and it drove away, that was like the end of the end and there was no more holding it back.

It took us quite a while to get the gears turning again. "How do we recover from this and get going again" was a question we struggled with for a while because it was so hard to even think about it. But we managed are we're rolling full speed ahead now. We've got a handful of new members now too.

Anyway, I think I've rambled enough here. Thank you again for everything, it means a lot!

Matt Lawrence

North Madison Vol Fire Company

[markmets415 524]

Thank you Matt

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Powerful and incredibly touching....thank you for sharing.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

I have been to one funeral for a Fire Explorer, Explorer Ralph Russo of the West Haven Post #3. I hope to never have to attend another Explorer's funeral ever again.

[Guest]

I have been to one funeral for a Fire Explorer, Explorer Ralph Russo of the West Haven Post #3. I hope to never have to attend another Explorer's funeral ever again.

Yea it is probably one of the most difficult things I've personally had to deal with both as it relates to the fire service and life in general. From being at the scene watching my friends doing CPR on him, through the days after the wake and funeral, it was really tough. When I finally went back to work, I made it about 1/2 a day before I had to leave, it just wasn't working. Luckily I have a lot of great friends (most of which are in the department) and family that made it a lot easier to eventually put my head back on track. I think the community, both young and old, really saw what the fire service is all about with this.

I know you've all probably heard this 100 times since joining the fire service or EMS. But I'll say it again. Use CISD when something tragic like this happens. Nobody wants to do it. Nobody wants to admit they need it. I didn't either until I wasn't given a choice in the matter and the CISD counselor called me since I wouldn't call him. The hour I spent on the phone made such a difference, it was like night and day.

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

Keep up the good work Matt, it allready has made you a better person. Any time you want to take your boys on a road trip our doors are allways open. Angelo J. Sposta Post 700 Port Chester New York Fire Dept Head Adviser.

[GAW6 66]

I know you've all probably heard this 100 times since joining the fire service or EMS. But I'll say it again. Use CISD when something tragic like this happens. Nobody wants to do it. Nobody wants to admit they need it. I didn't either until I wasn't given a choice in the matter and the CISD counselor called me since I wouldn't call him. The hour I spent on the phone made such a difference, it was like night and day.

Thank you for saying this. I have seen far too many "macho" firemen and policeman refuse any help and they end up holding onto it for years.

Your words were so very touching about your comrade; you must be a very special person.