BALTIMORE — James Kimbel, a firefighter with Baltimore County, died in a fire in 1984 with two other firefighters.
He and his fellow firefighter’s lives were honored at the first Fallen Heroes Day, and inspired a life of service for his brother Tom.
James, or Jimmy, as his little brother Tom calls him, was the guy everyone loved to be around.
"Jimmy, from the day he was born was going to be a firefighter. It was ingrained in him at some level that was never going to change," said Tom.
Starting in high school, James would volunteer for the local fire department.
"He bought a scanner, hung it over his bed, and the little crystal lights would run all night and when that thing would beep, he would jump up, get dressed and head and run all the way over to the volunteer fire company," said Kimbel.
James achieved his dream of becoming a firefighter.
He was Tom's best man at his wedding on October 19, 1984.
Then, while Tom and his wife Laurie were on vacation, it happened.
“Night we're eating dinner and I said, 'you know something's not right, I just, I don't feel good,” said Kimbel.
Then they got back to the room.
"We walked through the door and the little blinking red light was on by the phone and she saw it first and she started heading over. 'Oh I wonder who called' and I'm like, hey, um, let's give that a minute," said Kimbel.
Tom’s family told him to get home immediately and that something bad happened to his brother, not telling him how bad it was or what happened until he got to BWI.
"So, we landed in BWI, our parents were there, our families were there, and that's when they told Laurie and I that my brother had passed," said Kimbel.
The days that followed were a blur, until the funeral.
"It's inexplicable to try to explain to anyone that wasn't there and even harder from the family's perspective because when we stepped out of the limousine and we walked towards the grave site, the first sight we saw of course was those three graves together, the caskets," said Kimbel. "Then even though from the family's perspective, it is the most significant emotional event in your life that's ever gonna happen, especially for my parents, but then when I looked up what I saw, it's hard to explain, what I saw was not 50, 60, hundreds, it was thousands of people from all across the country," said Kimbel.
For Tom, the impact was profound.
An itch grew in him to become a firefighter, and he did.
"My brother Walter and Henry, they're still gone, but they died doing something that is so profoundly important in life that I started to think I gotta do this," said Kimbel.
Tom dedicated his life to the fire service.
Becoming a battalion chief.
For the first Fallen Heroes day, James and his fellow fallen firefighters were honored.
"You hear all that stuff and it's important to hear it is because it helps ease the pain a little bit," said Tom. "I remember the very 1st, 21 gun salute, I remember the trumpet playing off on the hill," he added.
"You won't forget that ever for the rest of your life. I will never forget the moment when that trumpet sounded at the end," said Kimbel.
For 40 years, Tom hasn’t missed a Fallen Heroes Day.
"Does it help with the grieving process going there? Assisting these younger families who are going through this for the first time, even the second time, just is that sense of community that happens the first Friday in May help with that grieving process," We asked Tom.
"It does, and I think what you just said is extremely accurate that sense of every time we go there every Fallen Heroes day we we really do feel a profound sense of community, these are people that gather together," said Kimbel.
"My goal has always been from day one to go just one year where we don't have anyone who's passed in the line of duty in the previous 12 months, that would be a wonderful day," He added
Tom, his wife and sons will be there Friday, honoring his brother and remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
