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Street named after late teen firefighter in Pa.

In July 2000, the 17-year-old student was responding to an emergency call when his pickup truck collided with a farm tractor

By Cody Francis
The Tribune-Review

LLOYDSVILLE, Pa. — Brian Schultheis remembers his cousin Nathan Pescatore as a young kid with a thirst for knowledge.

“I just remember he was eager. Eager to learn anything he could,” said Schultheis, Lloydsville’s fire chief.

Pescatore was a volunteer with Schultheis at Lloydsville from 1998 until 2000. In July 2000, the 17-year-old Greater Latrobe High School student was responding to an emergency call when his pickup truck collided with a farm tractor in Unity, killing the firefighter.

“We were actually going to another fire, so we were not dispatched to the vehicle accident,” Schultheis said. “Eventually I was notified about the accident and left the fire scene. I got to the accident just as he was being transported.

“It was a very tough evening for all of us. It was very difficult. I don’t know how else to explain that.”

While Schultheis knows he and other firefighters will never forget Pescatore, they want to make sure his memory lives on long after they are gone. In honor of his service, the fire department, along with the township, will name the street that leads to their fire station after him in a ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, the 11th anniversary of his death. The sign, provided by the township, will be twice the size of a normal street sign.

“We just wanted to do something to honor him,” said Scott Campbell, a fellow firefighter who volunteered alongside Pescatore. “He’s dearly, sadly missed. Every single day.”

Pescatore was promoted to senior firefighter a little more than a month before the accident, Campbell said.

“He was a dedicated, hard-working kid,” he said.

Pescatore was mature beyond his age and fit right into the firefighting family, he said.

“We got to be really good friends,” Campbell said. “He would come up from school, and I would be there after work just hanging out in the garage. We could yap about anything. I’m much older than he was, but he kind of felt like my son because I could talk to him about anything. He was a great kid.”

Pescatore attended vocational school and worked in machining and die-making, Schultheis said. Some of the firefighters who worked at the station in 2000 are still around, he noted, and Pescatore’s memory is preserved through stories.

“The ones that were around, they’ll hear us say his name and ask about him,” Schultheis said.

He hopes the street sign prompts more people to ask about Pescatore.

“He won’t be forgotten. Every time somebody pulls in there, they’ll look at the sign,” Schultheis said. “They’ll bring it up, and we’ll be able to tell his story. It’s something that’s always going to be there. He died in the line of service, in the line of duty, and now everybody will be able to remember him.”

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