The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
A FINAL RIDE
To honor deceased firefighters, Krause outfits old truck for funeral processions
TORRINGTON >> Erwin “Jay” Krause fell in love with firefighting in his youth. His parents bought him a toy fire truck as a child, and he looked up to several members of the community in his native Unionville who served in the Tunxis Hose Company.
“To see what they were doing, and then when I got to know them, to see the dedication — it was just something that connected my heart and my head together,” said Krause.
The Torrington resident eventually spent more than 25 years as a volunteer firefighter in Unionville. He is now offering firefighters and EMTs the chance to commemorate their service by having their remains transported on a fire truck after their passing through the Firefighters Funeral Apparatus Service.
Krause joined the fire depart-
ment in 1970 and spent more than two decades with it as a volunteer, with some interruptions, before retiring in 2008.
The chance to help people, he said, was paramount in his mind as he joined up, but the fellowship with other members of the department was important as well.
“You sort of have to you prove yourself, but once you were in, you were in, and it was (a) very closeknit group of people,” said Krause.
Being a volunteer in the fire department, he said, provided a sense of “total fulfillment.”
“It was a lot of self-sacrifice, which I never had any problem doing. But it was like some inner-fulfillment to help my fellow man when they were really in trouble,” said Krause.
Now, after moving to Torrington in recent years, he’s offering his brethren in the profession one last service — the chance to have their remains transported on a firefighter apparatus after their passing, as part of a funeral procession.
Krause said that he wanted something like that after his death, and received a positive response from active and retired firefighters when he mentioned the idea.
He purchased a fire truck from upstate New York in the spring of 2016, then outfitted it for the purpose.
Krause hopes to offer this service to firefighters from across Connecticut, including Litchfield, Hartford, Tolland, Middlesex, and northern New Haven county.
He wants to provide a last service for those who want it, but do not have another way to have it done, or help departments that need a truck to mark the death of a firefighter. He said he doesn’t expect to be busy, but would be happy to provide the service occasionally, and hopes to cover his expenses on the idea.
“It’s nothing I ever intended to get rich on,” said Krause. “It’s strictly more from the heart to offer this service to those that would like their final ride on something like this.”
The chance to take one more ride on a fire apparatus — to have a final moment of connection with that part of life — is intended to provide closure, he said.
“Of course, when you die, you don’t know, but... to know I would be carried on one at the end would be so meaningful to me. It would kind of bring, really, closure to all these years of service,” said Krause. “But this here is just, really, for those that would have that same desire as I do, but for whatever reason, it’s not available to them — this is available.”