By Michael Yoder
Reading Eagle
MYERSTOWN, Pa. — James H. “Pud” Yiengst was a common sight for more than half-century at Keystone Hook & Ladder Fire Company No. 1 in Myerstown.
The 72-year-old Lebanon County man faithfully responded to emergency calls with the Keystone, where he was a member for 55 years.
But a Friday night accident in Myerstown would prove to be Yiengst’s final call, and he became the 27th firefighter to die in the line of duty in the U.S. this year.
Chuck Killian, an assistant fire marshal in Lebanon County and facilitator of the Lebanon County Fire Training School, found out about Yiengst’s death on Saturday afternoon and was “floored” when he heard the news.
Killian said that he had known Yiengst for 15 years and he was one of the most active firefighters in the county.
“Jimmy’s always been a guy that’s very positive, always been an asset to whatever he was involved with,” Killian said. “He always wanted to look at the good things, and that’s why he was so well-liked.”
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Yiengst responded Friday afternoon to an accident at East Lincoln Avenue and North Railroad Street.
Yiengst told his son, Michael, that he began feeling ill at the scene.
On Saturday morning he was taken to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, where he later died.
In addition to his son, other survivors include his daughter, Michelle Poplaski, and four grandchildren, according to his obituary. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rita.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday ordered the state flag to fly at half-staff at the Capitol in Harrisburg and throughout all of Lebanon County until his burial on Saturday.
Myerstown resident Ed Treat first met Yiengst when Treat moved to Myerstown from Reading in 1965 to become borough manager.
He was always amazed, Treat said, by the amount of volunteer work his longtime friend did in the borough and with the fire company.
Treat pointed to a certificate of valor and an executive citation that Yiengst received from the Lebanon County Firefighters Association in 1999 and 2002, respectively. Yiengst was still a regular at meetings of the association, a group he twice led as president.
“He was a mover and a shaker, and there wasn’t much going on that he wasn’t involved in with the fire department,” Treat said. “He didn’t let no grass grow under his feet, and he let you know quick if you weren’t doing something right,” Treat said.
Killian said that a firefighter’s death can be considered in the line of duty if they die within 24 hours of an emergency call response with a condition that can be attributed to the call.
He said Yiengst’s passing marked the third line-of-duty death in Lebanon County this year.
Donald L. Brenner Jr. of Speedwell Engine & Hose in Lebanon died on Jan. 4 and Lebanon paramedic Gregory Wentzel died on March 7, according to Killian.
Yiengst’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday at noon at New Beginnings Grace Brethren Church in Myerstown, the obituary on the Grose Funeral Home website says.
Killian said that Yiengst would never have asked for the honor of flags at half-staff because he didn’t want to make a big deal out of anything that he did.
“Here’s a guy that spent his entire life in the fire service,” Killian said. “What’s a more fitting way to go out?”
Copyright 2017 Reading Eagle
All Rights Reserved