Flagler County Fire Rescue on March 19 will memorialize the life of volunteer firefighter John R. Keppler Jr. -– 20 years after his death -– with a dedication ceremony at the training tower on Justice Lane. The facility, which has always been referenced as “the training tower,” will be named for Keppler.
Keppler’s is the Flagler County Fire Department’s only line of duty death in the department’s history. He died of a heart attack five hours after responding to a fire call in West Flagler. He was 54. He is honored as having died in the line of duty by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and his is among the 200-some names on Florida’s Fallen Firefighters Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol. But his line-of-duty death status has not been recognized by Flagler County, thus denying the family benefits that would otherwise follow such deaths. (See: “Firefighter John Keppler Jr. Is Flagler’s Only Line-of-Duty Death. Florida and U.S. Honor Him. Flagler Does Not.“)
Police officers and sheriff’s deputies are routinely honored–and awarded benefits–for their line-of-duty deaths even if the death is not necessarily on the clock, as the job’s stresses are recognized to affect a person’s condition on or off the clock. In 2018 Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring the payment of death benefits to firefighters, law enforcement officers and other first responders who die in the line of duty. But the determination still depends on an agency defining a death as such.
At first the county ignored Keppler’s case. After his sons, themselves firefighters, brought the issue top light, the county since 2020, while still not recognizing the line-of-duty status, has sought to honor Keppler’s memory through other, less costly means. In late December, 2020, the Flagler County Commission agreed to rename the training tower in Keppler’s name.
“This is a wonderful thing to be able to do for his family,” said Fire Rescue Chief Michael Tucker. “It is a pleasure to honor a man who devoted his life to firefighting.”
Keppler joined the St Johns Park Volunteer Fire Department in 1993 after moving to Flagler County from Pennsylvania. Keppler earned the rank of captain while here.
He was born into the family firefighting tradition. Since 1860, every man in the Keppler family has joined the profession, including his sons – John R. Keppler III, who still serves for Flagler County, and Andrew J. Keppler, who retired in 2021 after 28 years.
The ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. March 19 at the soon-to-be John R. Keppler Jr. Fire Training Center, 655 Justice Lane, Bunnell. Andrew Keppler will represent the family. Coastal Florida Police and Fire Pipes and Drums will perform.
“The name Keppler is synonymous with firefighting in Flagler County,” Tucker said. “They have positively impacted the lives of Flagler County residents, and that legacy will continue on with the naming of this training center.”
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Joseph A Forte says
It was an honor and pleasure knowing and working with John so many years ago.
The naming rights is a wonderful token of appreciation, I would have like the county to have provided the family with the benefits granted from a state law enacted shortly after his death. John’s death is the very reason the law was put in place.
I suppose time is everything.
Roy Longo says
Unfortunately this just isn’t enough. John Keppler Junior died after responding to an emergency call. His wife should receive a death benefit from Flagler County. It took 20 years to do this recognition and that is only(!!!) after Keppler Jr. was recognized by state and national organizations.
Brian says
I had the honor and privilege to have served with both Andy and John Keppler as a member of the Flagler Beach Fire Department. I also had the honor and privilege of serving with John R. Keppler Jr on multiple mutual aid calls during my time with Flagler Beach FD. This is nothing more than a county government trying to make good for something they have had 20 years to fix! For the love of everything Holy and Good… recognize John Keppler’s death as what it was! He died in the line of duty after responding to an emergency call for help. Award his family the death benefits they are rightfully entitled to, and stop covering your own ass with some memorials and self-gratifying plaques. Or is it you just do not want they County’s workers’ compensation insurance premiums to go up by telling the truth we all know it to be?