Ishani Desai
The Bakersfield Californian
(MCT)
Jul. 16—Hardworking. Affable. Genuine.
These words embodied two Kern County Fire Department firefighters who unexpectedly died this week.
Seasonal firefighter Aiden Agnor, 18, and Capt. Brian Falk, 47, died on duty. Agnor died Monday, weeks after he was involved in a car accident while driving to work. Falk died Thursday. The Fire Department said Friday it does not have the circumstances or cause behind Falk’s passing.
“It’s affected a lot of people,” said KCFD Capt. Brian Conlee, who has known Falk for years. “This one hit real close to home for a lot of people.”
Chief Aaron Duncan said support from local law enforcement agencies, elected officials and several fire agencies around the state will help the department heal in time. Duncan added he is unaware of an instance in KCFD’s history where two of its members died in the same week.
The death of the men prompted an outpouring of stories and fond memories from their family, friends and co-workers, who shared them with The Californian.
Brian Falk
Though small in stature, his strength was like Greek hero Hercules, Conlee said. He and Falk knew each other as teenagers while part of the wrestling community in Bakersfield, and eventually they worked together for about two years at KCFD’s Buttonwillow station.
And despite his height, Falk carried a strong presence — he walked into a room and people knew he was an excellent fireman and a good person, Conlee noted.
KCFD Battalion Chief Jake Cagle said he wrestled with Falk as students at North High School while jokingly adding Falk always gave him a workout. Falk also excelled in every sport he played in high school such as football and baseball, he added.
But underneath his stocky build was a quiet, dry sense of humor.
KCFD Capt. Brad Brazeau, who was in the same fire academy as Falk, recalls a time when each peer studied their textbook during a stressful time in the academy. A door into their room slammed, and each recruit snapped up and stood at attention, awaiting instructions.
Minutes passed, and no one entered. Brazeau heard quiet sounds, and out of his peripheral vision saw Falk stifling giggles. Falk had slammed the door shut to jokingly mess with them all, Brazeau said.
“When we are under pressure and we are stressed, he had a way of easing the tension and making you feel good,” Brazeau said.
Falk, after joining the ranks in 2002, ascended to captain within six years — practically “unheard of,” said KCFD chief Duncan. Falk was eventually stationed at Station 23 in Fellows, a small community near Taft.
Despite achieving esteem in the fire department, Falk’s main priority was his family, Conlee said. He worshipped his wife and two sons, he added.
“It was an honor to work with Brian,” Duncan said. “I have fond memories working next to him. But it was more of a privilege to get to know him as a man and who he was — a great father, an excellent friend. It was a privilege knowing him.”
Aiden Agnor
It seemed firefighting was in Agnor’s blood.
他是第四代交火er, and has two family members in the Kern County Fire Department, said his stepfather Casey Payne, who is a KCFD firefighter.
And as a valedictorian, standout athlete at Quartz Hill High School, a school near Lancaster, and an all-around good person, it seemed he could do it all, said Agnor’s friends and family, including parents Michael Agnor and Melissa Payne.
“Aiden (Agnor) is the reason why educators become educators,” Zach Mercier, the principal of Quartz Hill High School, wrote in a statement on Facebook. “To be able to have watched his four years at (Quartz Hill High School) will be an honor that never leaves me.”
But underscoring these achievements was a humble persona and a kind, caring person.
Payne recalls they never knew just how many awards Aiden Agnor received and would unearth other awards from his room.
Agnor’s best friend, Caden Stowe, recalls how he got jumped by two upperclassmen in high school. No one but Agnor intervened, which earned him a two-day on-campus suspension. It was the only fight he ever got into.
“Aiden was too good for this world,” Stowe said. “This world did not deserve Aiden and I strongly believe that he’s where he belongs now. He did what he was sent to do. And God called him home.”
Stowe added everyone was happier when Agnor was around — people became happier, laughed more and smiled more.
Stowe plans to go into the Air Force and knows Agnor’s effect on him will never be forgotten.
“I am going to take what I learned from him with me everywhere I go,” Stowe said.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
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