Christopher A. Johnson is remembered with love.

Wearing his father's hat, 2 1/2-year-old Christopher Johnson Jr. salutes his mother,
Rebecca Johnson, as they follow his father's casket Friday in Fresno

Admiration for firefighter flows

Christopher A. Johnson is remembered with love.

By Jim Steinberg / Story at The Fresno Bee

Family and fire department colleagues praised Christopher A. Johnson, 32, during his funeral service Friday as a firefighter-plus, a man who lived to save and enhance others' lives.

Johnson died Sept. 20 of leukemia, presumed under state law to be a job-related death.

All firefighters quench flames as part of their mission, but they do rescues, paramedic work and more, Johnson's colleagues said in Peoples Church. They said that Johnson taught and inspired others to do all this by his example.

The funeral attracted hundreds of firefighters from the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection and other agencies from across the state.

The engines of 55 firetrucks and associated vehicles roared low in the church parking lot, idling beside fire chiefs' cars, their red lights flashing as mourners celebrated Johnson's life.

Bagpipes and drums droned sorrow and respect as mourners filed into, then out of the church. After the service, fellow firefighters carried Johnson's flag-draped casket, climbed a graduated black wood platform, then placed the casket on his station's red E-82 fire engine.

Firefighters guided his son, Christopher Jr., known affectionately as C.J., who wore his father's outsized "cover," or hat, before the engine bearing Johnson's body departed for Sanger Cemetery.

Inside the church during the service, men who had worked, lived and rescued with Johnson took turns saying what made this man special.

His father, Fred Alexander Johnson, riveted the congregation with a roaring, heartfelt celebration of Johnson's life. He recalled his young boy's love of firetrucks and bliss at looking into the fireplace. The elder Johnson said his son had achieved his dreams by becoming a firefighter and was planning to add new skills.

"He has moved on," Fred Johnson said. "He will always be my champion. God bless you, son. I love you. I love you."

Johnson's widow, Rebecca, wrote her thoughts to him, and they were distributed as part of the funeral program. She invoked the 91st Psalm, concerning trust in God, including "for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways."

Kim Penington, retired from Cal Fire, called Johnson "a leader, a fixer, a father." He called Rebecca "Becky" Johnson and C.J. "the sparks of his life."

Penington remembered father and son together in the fire station southeast of Fresno. He recalled Johnson's concern every time there was news from the war in Iraq that another American helicopter had gone down. Penington has a son and daughter stationed there, and he remembered Johnson's care after each downed chopper to make sure Penington's children were all right.

He conferred the greatest compliment for any firefighter: "Anybody in this room," he told the hundreds in the church, "would want Chris for backup."

During the service, Johnson's fellow firefighters marched solemnly in the firefighters' equivalent of soldiers bearing rifles port arms, diagonally across their chests. They carried fire axes, hooks and other tools in place of weapons.

A devout Christian, Johnson was praised by the Rev. Edward Thomas, who had married the Johnson couple.

"Where do we go now?" Thomas thundered. "We are going to the throne of God for everlasting consolation."

Mourners scattered across the congregation answered his plea that they raise their hands to God in glory, rejoicing at Johnson's destination, which they, too, can reach. Thomas told them, "Say, 'I'm going to the throne. I'm going to see Jesus.' "

The congregation said, "Amen."

After the funeral, fire Capt. Scott McLean of Cal Fire's Butte County station explained why Johnson's life and death were so important to firefighters and to everyone in the state: "Because he died for you. He committed his life to the citizens of California. This is steeped in honor. Tradition is imbedded, and it's in our souls."