Hero Firefighter Groom Leaves His Wedding to Fight Nearby Blaze
The story of a hero firefighter leaving his wedding day to help counter a nearby blaze is going viral for obvious reasons.
On September 1, Jeremy Bourasa married the love of his life in the local Minnesota fire station where he works as a firefighter. The St. Paul Park station was the optimal spot to hold the ceremony after their first choice venue didn’t work out.
“We talked about it,” the bride, Krista Bourasa, told local NBC station KARE11. One of the concerns was evidently, “What if there’s a call?”
She resolutely decided, at the time, that he would remain by her side. “I was like, ‘You can let the other guys go. You’re not leaving our wedding,’” she recalled.
Her brother erected a large structure of reclaimed barn wood that covered one of the walls inside the ceremony space. The ceremony, thankfully, was peaceful and beautiful through completion. It was during post-ceremony photos with the wedding party that the disruptive alarm suddenly went off.
According to KARE11, the reason for the alarm was a house fire located about a few miles away from the town center itself. Minutes later, an “all call” radio request sought help from more firefighters due to the urgent situation.
“I just looked over at Jeremy and I could just see it in his eyes. He felt so torn,” Krista said. “And I said, ‘Go ahead and go, babe. They need you.’”
“Without hesitation, I took off my wedding clothes, put on my turnout gear and stepped on the first truck that was heading out,” Bourasa told KARE11.
The couple’s wedding photographer, December Orpen, documented the occasion. “In the middle of an ordinary day, this groom showed his heart,” she wrote on Facebook shortly after the wedding day. “His fellow firefighters geared up and took off but more help was needed, 3 towns brought in. Krista saw the look in Jeremy’s eyes feeling torn and she told him to GO! Not only do these two have bond that is absolutely incredible….they have the ultimate love story!”
A few hours later, the groom returned just in time for the first dance. In the interim, the bride prayed with their guests for the fire victims and the firefighters bravely putting out the blaze. “Our ceremony was so beautiful,” she wrote on Facebook. “I married a real life hero!!”
The reason why Jeremy became a part-time firefighter was due to personal tragedy. “I lost my niece and nephew in a house fire two years ago,” Krista told People. “Then, three years ago, my sister’s home burned down too — this was before Jeremy became a firefighter, and it was after that happened that he said, ‘Okay, yeah, I’m going do it.’ Then he went down and applied.”
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