By Jerd Smith
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
 AP Photo/South Metro Fire Rescue Authority |
LARKSPUR, Colo. — A Larkspur firefighter was trying to rescue a teenager on his snowmobile Saturday when both were buried in an avalanche near Grand Lake.
Brian Kopp, 38, had turned back to help friend Mark Goetz, 19, of Arvada, when he also was caught by the slide, said South Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Becky O’Guin.
Friends described Kopp as a fun-loving, dedicated firefighter and paramedic who had a passion for helping others.
The Goetzes are dedicated to the outdoors, from snowmobiling to jet-skiing, according to family friends.
“Mark rode his snowmobile since he was little,” said Shannon Polewchak, who was at the Goetz house Sunday night with her husband, Bill, to offer condolences and a loaf of cinnamon bread.
Mark went to Arvada West High School, the Polewchaks said, and the family was well known in Arvada and always surrounded by friends. They also were surrounded by snowmobiles, owning maybe 15 or more, they said.
On Sunday afternoon, flags flew at half-staff at South Metro Fire Station 34 in Lone Tree.
Battalion Chief Bob Herdt choked back tears as he described Kopp.
“He was incredibly smart and a talented individual,” Herdt said. “If you needed help with something, Brian would help you.”
Herdt said Kopp’s death hit the 10-member firefighting team hard. The unit and their families had spent Christmas Day together at the station, near Park Meadows Mall.
Kopp was a hero to Centennial resident Ron Phelps. The firefighter and a South Metro team rescued Phelps’ teenage daughter and her friend from a car accident on an icy night nearly two years ago.
“I look to him with great thanks in my heart,” Phelps said. “He was a good man. Based on my brief experience with him, men like Brian are heroes to our community, and they too often go unsung. . . . It would be nice to remember them when they are still with us.”
Fellow firefighter Mike Porter said Kopp was an expert snowmobile operator. He said Kopp and the Goetz family would frequently go on snowmobile outings, leaving early and returning late at night, and that was the plan Saturday.
But it was clear the post-Christmas outing had turned into a tragedy when a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy showed up at the Kopp family home in Larkspur on Saturday night, Porter said.
Beyond his passion for snowmobiles, Kopp was a home builder and the father of 11-year-old twins, Alan and Elli.
“The guy was full throttle, all the time, in everything he did,” Porter said. “And he loved being a dad from the start. He loved his kids with every ounce of his being.”
Kopp is survived by his wife, Jennifer, twin sons, his parents, a brother, sister, three stepbrothers and two stepsisters.
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