By Jon Nielsen
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2007 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS — John Collins is still in grief’s unforgiving grasp.
It’s been eight years since his son Brian and two other firefighters were killed when a burning church roof collapsed on them in Lake Worth. Now, part of Mr. Collins’ grieving process is turning his sorrow outward to rally support for firefighter safety.
Mr. Collins and his wife, Marie, spoke recently to a crowd of firefighters at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Whistle-Stop tour in Dallas. The 19-city tour promotes fire safety and education, something Brian Collins advocated during his nearly 20 years as a firefighter.
“I’ve gone into restaurants with him, and he would look around and see there was no extinguishers, he’d go over and talk to the manager, then say ‘they are not interested in safety, I don’t want to eat here,’ and would walk out,” said Mr. Collins, 70.
But walking away from a burning building wasn’t part of Brian Collins’ character.
At 16, he showed his father a job application to join the River Oaks Volunteer Fire Department. Thinking it was just a phase his son was going through, Mr. Collins signed, giving him permission to join.
It wasn’t long after when the young man got a call to fight his first blaze, a church fire.
“He spent 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on a hot Sunday day pulling hoses. He was dirty, and I thought that would take care of that,” Mr. Collins said. “No, it didn’t. It whet his appetite.”
Nearly 20 years had passed between Brian Collins’ first fire and the Feb. 15, 1999, fire. By then, he was a 35-year-old assistant chief for the River Oaks volunteer squad and a lieutenant with the Fort Worth Fire Department. Firefighting wasn’t his career, it was his life.
The day after Valentine’s Day 1999, Brian was working as a volunteer with River Oaks. The call came in just as he was leaving for a morning dentist appointment.
Strong winds fanned the flames at Precious Faith Temple church, and when Brian arrived, he and volunteers Phillip Dean and Gary Sanders entered the building to vent the smoke and fire.
Just as they thought the fire was under control, the roof collapsed, trapping and killing the trio. Brian’s wife, Mary, was five months pregnant with the couple’s third child.
“It wasn’t a lack of safety or unsafe practices on his part,” said his father. “They thought they were safe ... and all of a sudden it was too late.”
On April 12, at the tour, Mr. Collins spoke to the group of firefighters about practicing safety so their families wouldn’t have to grieve like he’s had to.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you go about your business of putting your lives at risk, play it safe.”
The Sansom Park resident and minister at Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth preached that day about buckling up and exercising caution while en route to a call.
“The thought is to get there the quickest,” he said. “We’ve got to get there first and safely so we are not part of the scene.”