LIMA — Two names are engraved in a memorial stone in front of the Bath Township Fire Department honoring firefighters killed in the line of duty, and on Monday, the 35th anniversary of their deaths, they were honored for their service and sacrifice at a memorial service held at the fire house.
On Aug. 24, 1980, Bath firefighters Bruce Harrod and Steve Jordan were called to assist the Allen County Sheriff’s Office with an investigation. Both served on the department’s Dive Rescue team, and detectives were in search of a homicide weapon in the Ford Engine Plant quarry. When neither of them resurfaced, other fire department personnel entered the water and recovered them from the water, but all attempts to resuscitate them failed. In the department’s nearly 60-year history, Harrod and Jordan were the only two who died in the line of duty.
“Whenever you lose a firefighter in the line of duty, it makes an impact, not only on the families, but on the other firefighters and the entire community,” Bath Township Fire Department Chief Joseph Kitchen said. “Time doesn’t heal all those wounds, and even 35 years later, it’s still something we feel here at the Fire Department, so we wanted to pay tribute to both of them.”
While the event was intended to celebrate the lives of these two fallen comrades, the service was also a reminder to everyone in the department of the dangers that are part of their line of work.
“It’s something you’re always thinking about,” Kitchen said. “It’s our commitment to keep our firefighters safe every day.”
Jordan’s son, Steven Jordan Jr., spoke at the service, recounting both the sorrow at losing his father at a young age as well as the pride in the man his father was.
“He was 26 when he died, and I was 7,” he said. “He had to work two jobs and go to night school to finish high school. He was moving up the ranks at P&G. He was a go-getter in every sense of the word, and everybody loved him.”
Jordan’s experience gives him a deeply intimate appreciation for the work firefighters do to keep their neighbors, both friends and strangers, safe.
“Every time I hear the sirens, I know they put in on the line,” he said. “No one has any idea what’s going to happen. It truly is a fraternity. It’s a brotherhood.”
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