‘We got it from here’: Young firefighters carry on in tribute to fallen brother
The engine carrying the casket of 17-year-old West Leisenring firefighter Shawn Coleman proceeds along Route 40 in Hopwood. Coleman’s brother, Connor Coleman, 12, is in the passenger seat.
Fire stations from all of Fayette County and beyond drove in the funeral procession for 17-year-old West Leisenring firefighter Shawn Coleman.
Fire stations from all of Fayette County and beyond drove in the funeral procession for 17-year-old West Leisenring firefighter Shawn Coleman.
Alyssa Choiniere/For the Observer-Reporter
Shawn Coleman’s fire helmet is pictured on a West Leisenring fire truck. The 17-year-old firefighter spent much of his free time at the West Leisenring Volunteer Fire Department station, waiting for calls with other young firefighters. He was killed in a vehicle accident in Redstone Township on Route 40 last Sunday afternoon.
Shawn Coleman
Seventeen-year-old West Leisenring volunteer firefighter Shawn Coleman loved sirens. Whether he was going to a call for a house fire or wires down, he rushed to the scene with sirens blaring.
At his funeral procession Friday, his fire family broke the somber silence with sirens as a long line of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances made its way down National Pike in Hopwood.
“He had to have the sirens blaring, no matter what,” said firefighter Dylan Wallace.
“Flooded basement? It doesn’t matter. He loves that siren,” added firefighter Elea McKinney, a senior at Laurel Highlands Senior High School.
McKinney knew Coleman since elementary school, and expected they would be graduating together in a few months.
Coleman’s plans were cut short March 3. He was killed in a two-vehicle accident on Route 40 in Redstone Township. The Lemont Furnace teen left behind a group of close-knit firefighters, whom he bonded with, taught and playfully taunted. The group dynamic continued in his stead at the fire station last week.
They bantered and reminisced, laughing continually, though sometimes through teary eyes. His 12-year-old brother, Connor Coleman, cradled his older brother’s fire helmet on his lap.
“There’s a bond here that can’t be broken,” said firefighter Patrick Kelly, who the younger firefighters affectionately call “Pappy.”
While many fire departments struggle to find new recruits, Coleman was the de-facto leader of seven young firefighters, many of them his classmates.
The fire crew interacts like family, sometimes bickering and at all times protecting. McKinney said Coleman was “a teddy bear” who stood up for anyone in need.
“We fought like a family, just because we are one. But if anyone messed with any of us, Shawn was right there,” she said.
Now, said Chief Greg Wallace, Coleman is watching over all of them.
Coleman joined the fire department to follow in the footsteps of his father, Assistant Capt. Aaron Coleman. The teen encouraged his cousin, Brendan Shaffer, to join also.
“(Shawn) was there, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Shaffer, a Laurel Highlands sophomore.
McKinney recalled Coleman’s excitement when she joined the fire department about two years ago.
“He was showing me all the trucks. He was giving me every little detail, and he was just so happy that I was joining because I was someone he could teach,” McKinney said.
Coleman and the rest of his group would spend much of their free time at the fire station, playing cards, chatting and waiting for calls.
“We’d see each other in school. ‘Hey, you going to the fire hall tonight?'” McKinney said. “It’s just what you do.”
He accepted friends, firefighters and fishing buddies with open arms, she said.
If Coleman wasn’t at the fire station, he was probably hunting or fishing at Lemont Sportsman Club. But nothing took a back seat to firefighting. McKinney remembered a night fishing trip with Coleman that was interrupted by a call for a dumpster fire. She said he ran from the far shore, threw his rods in the truck and raced to the fire station.
“Fishin’ wasn’t important. Saving somebody’s life was,” said Kelly.
Connor was one of his brother’s most frequent fishing partners. He remembered his older brother finding an especially big fishing hook before a trip.
“‘We’re gonna catch Moby Dick tonight!'” Connor recalled his brother saying.
“He caught a couple Moby Dicks,” Kelly said. “At least that’s what he told.”
While Coleman’s fishing stories often centered around a big catch, his friends’ and family’s fishing and hunting stories centered around a different theme – Coleman falling into creeks.
“He’d always fall in,” Shaffer said, prompting a fresh burst of laughter from the group.
But his propensity for landing in lakes didn’t stop him from chiding his fellow firefighters for clumsiness. Shaffer recalled tripping over a lawnmower at a winter shed fire, and landing flat on his belly.
“He looked at me and he said, ‘It ain’t time to cut grass yet,'” Shaffer said.
Despite his antics, Coleman’s pride in the fire department always showed through, Kelly said. He was a brave leader for the group of young people. McKinney described Coleman as “a natural.”
“He would’ve been one heck of a fireman,” she said.
The group said they find comfort knowing Coleman lived a happy life, which he spent doing what he loved.
“He’s in a better place,” said Connor. “He lived a good life.”
Coleman’s fire service concluded with an “end of watch” call through Fayette County Emergency Management Agency at the close of his funeral. The procession made its way down Main Street in Uniontown, and the sirens faded to silence.
“The last alarm is now being sounded for firefighter Shawn Coleman of the West Leisenring Volunteer Fire Department. His courage and dedication to the community, as well as his loving and caring personality and contagious smile, will never be forgotten,” the transmission said. “May he rest in peace. Fayette County clear: 12:01.”
Now the fire family is carrying on with the support of one another, tempering the bonds Coleman forged.
“We’ve got to pick up where he left off,” McKinney said. “We got it from here.”