(Nebraska)  Woman helps firefighters keep tradition

By Chris Zavadil/Fremont Tribune

Firefighters call it "Striking the Four Fives," and it's a tradition reaching back to the 19th century.

It's a tradition a local woman, with the help of her pastor, has made available to local firefighters.

When Wanda Kruger of Fremont heard the four solemn choruses of five chimes on the brass fire bell in honor of her husband, she was so touched she wanted to share it with her community for years to come.

Kruger bought a hefty chrome-plated bell and donated it recently to the Fremont Rural Fire Department for use by all area departments during funerals for members and former members.

Kruger had not heard of the tradition until her pastor, the Rev. Michael Thomas at Salem Lutheran Church in Fremont, brought it up while discussing funeral arrangements for Kruger's husband, Larry "Deanie" Kruger, a former volunteer firefighter who died Sept. 9, 2009.

"He asked if we wanted a last call," Kruger remembered. "I had no idea what he was talking about because I had never been to a service where they did that."

Thomas, who was involved with the Ralston Fire Department, made arrangements for a bell at Kruger's husband's funeral, and the Four Fives salute was presented prior to military honors.

"Everyone was just so impressed because nobody had seen that before. It was a very impressive ceremony," Kruger said.

Thomas later helped Kruger find a company where she could buy a bell.

"Wanda was so moved by the ceremony that she wanted any firefighter in our county to be able to have that same ceremony," explained Barbara Nielsen, office manager at Fremont Rural. "She called me and asked if we would mind if she would purchase the bell, then we would kind of be in charge of it in perpetuity."

Kruger said Fremont Rural - formerly known as the Inglewood Volunteer Fire Department - was a special place for her husband, who served there for 20 years on active duty, then made it a point upon retirement not to miss the department's social functions.

"It wasn't only the department that meant a lot, but mainly the people," Kruger said.

Nielsen remember firefighter Kruger as a man with a sharp memory who had been part of the early days shortly after the department formed in 1961.

"I'm extremely sorry I didn't sit down with him before he passed away because he had all the history," Nielsen said.

Striking the Four Fives traces its origins to the days before firefighters had pagers and other electronic means of communication, when bells announced fires and emergencies. When a firefighter died in the line of duty, the bell would be struck five times followed by a pause. The procedure would be repeated four times.

Kruger's bell won't be used until a stand and carrying case are built for it, Nielsen explained.

"We want it to be protected when it leaves the station," she pointed out.

Kruger said she won't limit its use to firefighters, either.

"As far as I'm concerned, whoever has a last call, if it's firefighters, police, rescue, they can use it," she said.