This is the first of a three-part series by KSHB 41 News anchor Taylor Hemness on the 10th anniversary of a deadly fire that changed families, a community and a department. Taylor welcomes feedback on this series, which you can share by sending him an e-mail.
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Ten years ago this week, Kansas City, Missouri, firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh were killed when part of a burning building collapsed on top of them.
Mesh, a Northeast Kansas City native, was survived by his wife and four daughters. His girls were between the ages of 10 and 17 when he died.
Recently, I had the honor of sitting down with three of them at his gravesite. The fourth has young children and could not take part in the interview.
The sisters shared their memories of the awful night they lost their dad, how his memory endures today and what this anniversary means to them.
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The girls grew up with a couple of very powerful truths.
The first: "Being the daughter of a fireman is really heartwarming to know that he’s out there saving lives, and being one of the best people I knew," Alyssa Mesh said.
But the second was one John Mesh tried to shield them from.
It came when I asked them about being afraid every day that he went to work.
"He didn't want us to think that way,” Alicia Mesh told me. “So like, he would always be like, ‘Don’t even. That’s not going to happen to me.’"
"He would always just make sure to give us a hug and a kiss before we left,” Alyssa said. “So we always knew that he was going to work with that chance."
"We’d wait for him to get home and see him,” Alicia added, “and when that didn’t happen, it crushed us."
It didn't happen that night in October 2015 because their father had picked up a shift on a day he wasn't even scheduled to work.
He was actually on the phone with his wife, Felicia, when the call came in.
"He was like, ‘I gotta go. I'll talk to you soon,'" Alyssa said. "We’re just like, ‘OK, we’ll see you in a little bit, Dad.’ And little did we know … that it would, it didn’t end that way."
John was fighting a massive fire near the corner of Independence and Prospect avenues when an exterior wall of the building collapsed, burying him and three other firefighters under brick.
His oldest daughter, Adriana, was 17 at the time and working at a local restaurant. Her mother called.
"She told me, ‘Something happened, something’s wrong with Dad. He’s getting rushed to the hospital,’" Adriana said. “And I just remember screaming so loud, and I rushed out of there. And I just left with everything that I had on me, and I jumped in the car."
Felicia, terrified for her husband's life, rushed their four daughters to the hospital.
"I just remember her being at the wheel, crying and not really saying anything,” Alyssa said. “Just 10-and-2, straight forward, and all of us were holding each other’s hands, praying. She’s the strongest woman I know."
The family arrived safely, but not in time. Felicia's parents met them in the parking garage with the news John was gone.
"We just broke down right then and there," Alicia told me.
The following days were a tragic blur for the Mesh family — from a public memorial, complete with the mayor and fire chief handing them a flag, to being recognized by the Kansas City Royals in the middle of the team's World Series run.
But then, the new reality set in for the four girls of facing a life forever changed.
"In the moment, days pass by, and you miss him, and it doesn't feel real,” Alicia told me. “But then, as months go by, you realize that time is changing. There's a lot of things that you realize, ‘Okay, where's Dad?’ The 10 years that I did get to spend with him, these past 10 years will never measure up to that."
Today, the Mesh and Leggio Memorial is tucked away in the alley where the building collapsed; you likely won't see it unless you're looking for it. The family doesn't visit it very often, but they may to mark this anniversary.
"Every time this date comes up, you can honestly just feel it,” Alyssa said. “It's like you’re reliving it all over again."
"When you're looking for answers and wanting to talk to your dad, he's not there anymore; it's really hard to cope with that,” Adriana said. “So I have my struggles a lot."
The sisters go to his gravesite regularly. And on this 10th anniversary, it's that first truth they grew up with — that they're the daughters of a firefighter — that rings out across their growing family, every day.
"Everything that we do, he's always included in some way. That brings us a lot of comfort," Adriana said. "And I think his story inspires a lot of people, too."
"Being at 10 years, you kind of look back and you think, ‘Wow, we all graduated.’ And she's engaged, and our other sister has babies, and so much life has happened," Alicia said.
"He has two grandkids now,” Alyssa said. “We know that he's proud of us, and he was our hero long before he was the city's."
About a month ago, I had the opportunity to meet Missy Leggio, whose husband Larry was also killed in that 2015 fire.
She told me she was thankful that I was doing these stories so her husband's memory can live on. But she politely declined my invitation to speak on camera.
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