Firefighter Jacob Long Memorial
 
By Honey Brook Fire Company #1
September 27, 2014
 

Story and photos courtesy of Daily Local News.

Jake Long, 19, was remembered Saturday for being a good young man and a dedicated volunteer with the Honey Brook Fire Company.

Long was killed Sept. 19 in an auto collision that killed fellow Honey Brook firefighter Benuel Stoltzfus, 22, whose funeral service was earlier in the week.

Long’s service was held at the Gateway Baptist Church on Suplee Road. The church was jammed with family, friends, community members and fellow firefighters.

The fire company trucks led the funeral procession. The company gave Long’s parents their son’s fire helmet.

A collision between a tractor-trailer and a pickup on Route 340 in Salisbury, Lancaster County killed Long, Stotzfus, and Marcus Ruff, 26, of Downingtown.

Jake Zook, 23, of Honey Brook, survived. He was a Honey Brook firefighter as well, pulled injured from the wreckage by a person across the street.

Chief Barry Messner said Zook was able to attend Saturday’s funeral.

It has been a difficult week and day for the fire company, said Messner. He said company members have been comforting each other, and the families of the victims.

He wanted to thank the general community for their understanding and sympathy.

“There have been so many little things. People showing up with food at the fire house, little things like that,” he said.

Messner said members of the company were preparing their trucks on Friday night, and people just stopped to talk. “It was reassuring, very reassuring,” he said.

Messner said it helped the members of the fire company know that their work was valued. He said the members appreciated it.

On Monday, he said fire company members attended Benuel Stoltfus’ Amish funeral. He said all of his older brothers have been volunteers with the company.

On Wednesday, Messner said a delegation went to the service of Ruff, who was not a member of the company. However, he said company members were concerned that his family knew the company was just as concerned with his death in the collision as much as their own members.

The collision remains under investigation.

 
Hyperlinks: Daily Local News Article
Daily Local Photos