Fallen firefighter's kids get special escort to school

It was a sight that would have made her husband cry tears of joy.

Jennifer Hill lost her husband, a firefighter with Prince George's County Fire Department, to brain cancer in July, but she still had familiar faces to drop her children off on their first day of school.

Members of firefighting associations in Prince George's and Baltimore counties escorted her children Amy, 9, and Evan, 5, to West Manheim Elementary School on Tuesday.

"This was the first event for the family where Dad wasn’t going to be there," Cpt. John Wiseman of the Prince George's County Fire Department said. "We wanted to make it special."

The personnel surprised the children with fire engines pulling into their driveway and breakfast from McDonald's. The firefighters drove the children to school aboard a firetruck, standing out among the cars and yellow school buses in the carpool lane.

"They were jumping up and down," Hill said. "They loved it."

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Fire Lt. Mike Dowling described the day as both happy and difficult.

"I think that they enjoyed it," he said. "It’s a difficult situation to be starting school after just losing your father."

The last time the children had seen the officials in uniform was their dad's funeral, Hill said.

"The fire department is one big family, so we try to take care of everybody," Wiseman said.

The department has continually helped the Hills through Chris' 18-month battle with cancer, Dowling said.

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The brain cancer was directly linked to his occupation, which has 60 percent more prevalence among firefighters, Hill said. Her husband worked for the Prince George's County Fire Department for 14 years as a fire lieutenant.

Chris Hill's dedication was noted by his colleagues, who drove two hours early in the morning to give his kids a memorable start to the school year.

For Hill, it's comforting to know she has a group of people to rely on, even for something as simple as repairs around the house.

"There's nothing more lonely than losing a spouse," she said.

Hill and her family have no way to thank the association members "besides the smiles on our faces," she said.

Dowling saw the extraordinary carpool ride as a responsibility to brotherhood.

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"I just know that other people would come together for my family to do it for me," he said.

Thinking of her husband, Hill knew the gesture would have warmed his heart.

"The only thing he ever wanted for the kids and I was for us to be taken care of, and that’s why he worked so hard and put himself in so much danger," she said.

As his backpack-clad kids climbed off a big red fire engine ready to start school in a new town, it appeared Chris Hill's colleagues followed through.