Fighting Fire With Song

Nearly two years ago, Jim Jansen could never have imagined the turn his life would take. His wife Cornelia died from an unknown heart defect.

“I had walked in the house from work and she told me she had some pain in her back and she had to lie down, and a minute later I went to check on her and she was on the floor and she wasn’t breathing and her heart had stopped. It was that fast,” Jansen said.

Cornelia's sudden death at 47 left him with decisions, including what to do with the rest of his life and how to make a difference in others.

"Well, I've been a musician most of my life and that was one of my other passions. Another passion was firefighting and growing up as a child I always wanted to do both,” he said.

And so he did both.This guitar playing former Bristol fire captain now spends his days as "Fireman Jim," teaching young children all about fire safety..

Every song he sings has a message and the tunes are catchy. “Every week is fire prevention week” and “The stove is hot” are just a few of them.   
 
The 4- and 5-year-olds at Liberty Baptist Childcare Center in Bristol loved his presentation recently and they learned a lot.
 
And so "Fireman Jim's" story goes to show something positive can come out of a tragic situation.  He thinks Cornelia would be proud.

"I did it for her. I did it for God. I did it for me. I did it for the thousands of kids that have heard the message. I like to think that she's looking down from heaven, just smiling on this whole thing going, 'Yeah,'” Jansen said.

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