By FireRescue1 Staff
ST. PAUL PARK, Minn. — A firefighter who had his wedding at his fire station left before the reception to help battle a blaze.
St. Paul Park Fire Department firefighter Jeremy Bourasa and his bride Krista moved their wedding to the fire station after losing their venue weeks before the big day.
“We talked about it, ‘What if there’s a call?’” Krista said. “I was like, ‘You can let the other guys go; you’re not leaving our wedding.’”
However, Bourasa did not hesitate when a mutual aid call came in while the couple was taking post-ceremony photos.
“Without hesitation, I took off my wedding clothes, put on my turnout gear and stepped on the first truck that was heading out,” Bourasa said.
Krista said she “couldn’t just keep him” after hearing how severe the blaze was.
“I kept hearing how bad it was and they needed more men,” she said. “I couldn’t just keep him. I looked at him and I just said, ‘Go ahead and go babe, you’re fine. Just go help them and come back when you can.’”
Krista was escorted into the reception by her father, and wedding photographer December Orpen, who managed to grab a photo of the wedding party waving goodbye to Bourasa as he left in a fire truck, described the incident as a moment of “unconditional, selfish love.”
“I’ve got the rest of my life with him,” Krista said. “They needed him for that moment.”
Krista’s act of kindness stems from the loss of her niece and nephew, who died in a house fire two years ago.
“It was extremely tragic, unbelievable,” she said. “It’s hard for a lot of people to realize, there are things that are more important than you at the moment.”
Bourasa returned three hours later to dance with his wife at their reception.
“That just kind of put the icing on the cake that I know she’s the one for the rest of my life,” he said.