As the life of a Lyndeborough firefighter was celebrated in Milford Saturday, the Lyndeborough and Greenfield Fire Department auxiliaries prepared for the arrival of mourners at Citizens’ Hall afterward.
“We’re their backbone,” said Doris Kelley, an auxiliary member. Just as the auxiliary provides firefighters with cold water and coffee on scene, they were there for the department as it mourned one its own Saturday.
Derek Lankowksi, 31, was killed a week ago by a tree that fell on his truck while he was driving on Route 114 in Weare. A gust of wind brought a tree down on his Chevy 2500 pickup truck near John Stark Regional High School.
The poplar tree crushed the cab of the truck. Lankowski died on-scene. No passengers were in the vehicle.
Wind gusts ripped through Merrimack County on Tuesday, reaching speeds as high as 46 mph in the early morning.
Gusts reached 42 mph about the time of the crash, according to the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. After a cortege of fire trucks, ambulances and police cruisers brought Lankowski home from Goffstown Wednesday, a funeral ceremony was held at the Burns Hill Christian Fellowship in Milford Saturday. Immediately afterward was the reception the Auxiliary organized. The Greenfield Fire Department Auxiliary and students from Wilton-Lyndeborough high school lent a hand.
Benji Rosen can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 228, or brosen@ledgertranscript.com.