Who is Brian Kopp
Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Kopp was an 8 year member of our fire department and died tragically on December 27, 2008 while trying to rescue a stranded snowmobiler in Grand Lake, Colorado. Brian was an entrepreneur, a private pilot, a small business owner, a dedicated firefighter / paramedic and a loving father and husband. At the time of his death, he was married to his high school sweetheart and had twin 11 year old children, Alan and Elli.
Brian Kopp was hired as a Firefighter for South Metro Fire Rescue in 2000. Prior to his decision to enter the fire service, he had owned a small oil change shop in Evergreen, Colorado and was a licensed private pilot. Brian had numerous hobbies including recreational flying, home construction, snowmobiling, and spending time with his family. He made the decision to sell his successful business and enter the fire service so he could spend more time with his family and give more time to his community. After graduating from the fire academy, he quickly became an integral part of our department by getting involved in the Wildland Team. He became certified as a Wildland firefighter and he responded on numerous major incidents throughout his career. Brian’s career progressed and he became certified as an Engineer and was working on his Lieutenants packet at the time of his death.
With Brian working in the fire service, he quickly realized that he was going to have to find something to occupy his days off once his children entered school. He decided to build a house for his family in the Larkspur area. He completed the house and the family moved to the house in 2004. In late 2006, Brian decided to build 2 houses in the Larkspur area, hoping to make some extra money for the family and to return to his roots as a small business owner. Unfortunately, by the time he was able to finish the houses, the housing market had taken a turn and selling the houses became difficult. Brian was not able to sell the houses for some time and he and his partner took a significant loss once they were able to complete the sale. Brian decided that the best thing to do would be to take a loan on his primary residence so that he could pay off the costs he had incurred in building the houses. In Brian’s mind, he would just work harder and pay a little extra each month to pay down the loans.
In the late fall of 2008, Brian’s wife had her hours significantly cut at her place of employment. Brian knew that this would be a hardship for the family, but sought comfort in the fact that he was employed with the Fire Department and was working on the promotional process. Then a beautiful outing in the mountains turned tragic and all of these plans he had were altered.
On December 27, 2008, Brian and 2 friends went to Grand Lake to do some snowmobiling. Brian was with his best friend and his best friend’s son. Early in the afternoon, all 3 of them headed to Gravel Mountain to do some snowmobiling. The friend’s son decided to ride up the face of the mountain and quickly became stuck in the snow. With some urgency, Brian rode up the same slope and became stuck as well. Brian’s friend then decided to go above where both were stuck and to access them from above. When he made the turn to access the area, he triggered an avalanche. Brian was able to steer clear of the slide, but his friend’s son was not. According to the friend, Brian turned back into the slide to see if he could save the son and became caught up in the slide. By the time the avalanche stopped, both were buried in over 4 feet of snow. Brian’s friend quickly tried to locate the 2, but he was unsuccessful. Brian was recovered approximately 1 hour later in 6 feet of snow. CPR was performed for over an hour while taking him out of the area on the trailhead. Shortly after arriving at the parking area, he was pronounced dead by the awaiting Paramedics. Brian Kopp died tragically while trying to save the life of another. It was the epitome of who he was and is the motto of our profession “We will risk everything to save another life”. Brian died a hero and in the process left his wife and children fatherless and virtually without income.
The 2164 Foundation is a 501c3 charitable foundation and is the fundraising extension of the South Metro Professional Firefighters. South Metro Fire Rescue covers the cities of Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills, Centennial, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Parker, Foxfield and Roxborough, as well as the unincorporated areas of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Brian was a dedicated member of our department and will be deeply missed.
The 2164 Foundation has set up this memorial fund for the families of Colorado Fallen Firefighters, but we quickly realized that the monies in the fund are not sufficient enough. Our goal is to raise money for these families who have lost their loved ones. When these Firefighters leave behind children, we want to be able to assist in their college education. We have decided to hold this golf tournament on July 11, 2011 and hope to raise over $100,000 for the families. I know the goal is lofty, but we are dedicated to making sure that these families have their needs taken care of.