By JESSICA DeLEON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
For the last five years, Bedford Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Johnson had been working on a dream.
He was building a house-and-barn complex at his 108-acre Kerens ranch, where he planned to live and raise quarter horses after retiring.
But on his 49th birthday, Sept. 16, he learned that he had adenocarcinoma, a form of incurable abdominal cancer.
His colleagues, Lt. Mike Swanson and engineer Kiki Box, started talking to each other. What if they finished the house for Johnson, also known as “Chief J”?
“We need to get Chief J home for Christmas,” Swanson said. “You know what, Kiki? These firefighters can do a lot.”
And they have. On their days off, firefighters have traveled 94 miles southeast to Kerens to finish the 7,500-square-foot building.
Johnson said he is overwhelmed.
“I don’t know how else to put it,” he said. “I’m still very taken aback by all of this.”
The single-story structure has a house, a barn, and a feed and tack room with guest quarters. Johnson had finished about 75 percent of the home, including the framing and wiring. The volunteers, who started Oct. 18, plan to put up the Sheetrock and start painting in the next couple of weeks.
The firefighters usually rely on their own expertise. Most days, four to 10 firefighters show up. They’ve also received donated services from contractors, supplies from vendors and help from other Northeast Tarrant County fire departments.
A blood drive for Johnson on Oct. 13 drew 111 donors, more than double the 47 that organizers had projected. Individuals can still make donations in Johnson’s name. The firefighters are also seeking more donations to pay for materials and are organizing a golf tournament for next month.
Johnson said it would have taken him a year to finish the house by himself. The firefighters’ help has let him concentrate on his health.
“It’s taken a lot off my mind,” he said.
The firefighters say they are just repaying Johnson for the compassion he has shown them. Johnson, who has worked in Bedford since 1977, supervises a crew of 19. He has often gathered firefighters after a call to discuss what happened, and he has been protective of them, Swanson said.
“His goal is to make sure we all go home,” he said.
Johnson, who is on medical leave, is going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Adenocarcinoma is an incurable cancer. His wife, Linda Johnson, said the “prognosis is grim at best ... unless he beats the odds.”
The couple have gotten through the ordeal because of their faith in God and support from the community, said Linda Johnson, a secretary at Bell Manor Elementary School.
The firefighters’ have another gift for Johnson -- a deadline for the project.
“One way or another, it’s happening -- Christmas tree, the whole nine yards,” Swanson said.
How to help
To make a donation, make a check payable to the Bedford Professional Firefighters Association, 1816 Bedford Road, Bedford, TX 76021.