We at Beacon Hose are sad and regretful to announce the passing of longtime member Peter Christensen, who died April 3 with family and friends by his side.

Pete joined Beacon Hose in January 1975 and held countless roles in our organization over the past 46 years. In addition to being a firefighter and an EMT, he was a past EMS director and the longtime chairperson of our scholarship committee, where he oversaw the awards of more than $100,000 to Beacon Falls students over the past few decades.

We at Beacon Hose are brokenhearted and regretful to announce that Robert Messner, the longest-serving member in the history of our fire department, died peacefully at his home March 2, 2021, after a long illness. He was 91 years old, and he was a member of Beacon Hose for nearly 63 years.

Bob joined Beacon Hose in July 1958 and had been a fixture in our firehouse since then. He was not only a dedicated firefighter for many years, but he was a master mechanic who worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. He carried those skills here to Beacon Hose with his work on our beloved 1929 Seagrave and countless apparatus replacement committees. He was a role model for our members and engineers for decades — Past Chief Ted Smith said that Bob was a “top-notch mechanic” who “taught me everything I know about the Seagrave.”