Firefighters mourn death of Pascoag’s Richard Jenks
BURRILLVILLE – The town’s firefighters Thursday were mourning the loss of one of their own.
The sudden death of senior Pascoag firefighter Richard Jenks while battling a fire in Pascoag Wednesday, has left the fire company and its members grieving.
The death of Lt. Jenks, 72, a 33-year veteran of the fire service, is the first line-of-duty death in the 114-year history of the Pascoag Fire Department, and only the second in the history of the fire service in Burrillville, which has four other fire companies.
Jenks returned home late yesterday morning led by a police and fire escort that accompanied the body of the fallen firefighter from the medical examiner’s office in Providence to the Boucher Funeral Home in Pascoag, which is handling the funeral arrangements.
“I’ve known Richard all my life and this is a terribly difficult and emotional day for everyone in the Burrillville fire service,” said Harrisville Deputy Fire Chief Michael Gingell, who was the incident commander at Wednesday morning’s fire.
Gingell called Jenks a dedicated firefighter and family man who loved his job.
“Richard was active in the
fire service for more than 30 years and was also a member of the former Burrillville Ambulance Corps. He was also very involved with the Burrillville Veterans Association,” Gingell said. “He was a guy you would see around town all the time. He always had a big smile and a strong handshake He was the guy everyone liked being around.”
Jenks was a retired employee of the Pascoag Utility District and served on
the Pascoag Utility Board of Commissioners. He was also a Little League coach in town.
“Rest in Peace, Richard Jenks, beloved commissioner and retired employee of Pascoag Utility District who spent over 40 years with us, happily working hard always, to keep our customers’ lights on. May your light shine on forever, Richard. We will miss you,” the Pascoag Utility District wrote on its Facebook page yesterday.
Jenks was one of several firefighters who arrived on scene Wednesday morning to fight the 9 o’clock chimney fire at a single-family log cabin-style home set back in the woods on Hill Road in Pascoag.
Pascoag Deputy Fire Chief Keith Carter said Jenks collapsed outside the home after tripping and falling inside. Jenks was helped up by his fellow firefighters and brought outside to be checked out by EMTs. Carter said Jenks wanted to go back inside to help fight the fire, but he then collapsed.
CPR was performed on Jenks at the scene before he was taken by ambulance to Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket where he was pronounced dead.
“He had immediate medical attention at the scene by a group of EMTs who were there, while other firefighters maintained service and fought the fire,” said Gingell.
Gingell said fire chaplain Rev. David G. Thurber of St. Teresa Church in Pawtucket arrived at the fire scene and gathered firefighters around the spot where Jenks collapsed for prayer and a moment of silence.
The ambulance carrying Jenks’ body to the medical examiner’s office in Providence was met outside the emergency room by an honor
guard from the Woonsocket fire and police departments. As the procession continued, Woonsocket police blocked the intersections and the Lincoln Fire Department lined Route 146 south in two different locations. North Providence joined the procession and as the ambulance exited at Admiral Street, the Providence Fire Department also had a ladder and a engine honor guard. The escort included State Police and police from Burrillville, Woonsocket and North Smithfield.
Gingell said the town’s other fire departments have all reached out to Pascoag and the Rhode Island Fire Chiefs Association’s Local Assistance State Team, which provides assistance to fire departments that experience a death of a firefighter, has been activated to help the department.
In addition, a critical incident street team was in town to debrief and help grieving firefighters who were at the scene, which included mutual
aid firefighters from Harrisville and Uxbridge.
The flag at the fire station on Main Street in Pascoag and at stations throughout town were being flown at half staff yesterday.
“It is with profound regret and sadness that the Pascoag Fire Department announces the untimely line-of-duty death of Lieutenant Richard Jenks, a 33-year veteran of this department,” the department said in a statement last night. “Lt. Jenks was a loyal, dedicated, and hard-working member of this department, and his departure will be felt in our house and throughout the Burrillville community at large. Please keep his family in your thoughts at this difficult time, including his wife, Sharon, who is also an active 28-year veteran of this department.”
Jenks was also a father and grandfather.
The Pascoag Fire Department is one of five fire districts in Burrillville, including Harrisville Hose Co.,
Oakland-Mapleville Fire Department, Nasonville Fire Department and the Wallumn Lake Volunteer Fire Department.
Jenks’ death is the second in line of duty death in the history of the fire service in Burrillville.
The first was Gingell’s father, Lawrence Gingell, a Harrisville firefighter who died in 1986 at the age of 54. Gingell had responded to Harrisville Mill Pond for a report of a dog fallen through the ice. Gingell collapsed at the water’s edge as firefighters were launching the rescue boat.
Last year, tragedy struck the Harrisville Hose Company when veteran Burrillville volunteer firefighter Lawrence R. Castonguay was killed after the truck he was a passenger in was struck by a car in West Glocester. Castonguay, 73, of Harrisville, a firefighter for nearly 44 years, was one of the Harrisville Hose Company’s longest serving members.