Jim Mesh, right, joins agents from the Missouri Conservation Department and John Sirna (second from left) in presenting a check for the Discover Nature Girls Camp on February 25, 2017.

By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

On this week’s edition of Kansas City’s Northeast Newscast, managing editor Paul Thompson is joined by Jim Mesh, co-founder of the John V. Mesh Memorial Scholarship.

KCFD firefighters John Mesh and Larry Leggio tragically died on October 12, 2015 while fighting a two-alarm blaze on Independence Avenue. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Mesh’s brother Jim partnered with John’s KCFD Pumper 10 colleague John Sirna to create the John V. Mesh Memorial Scholarship, a charitable organization dedicated to preserving John’s legacy and honoring his love of the outdoors. Jim Mesh sat down for an interview last week to discuss his memories of his younger brother, the work that goes into the planning the charity’s signature event – an annual clay shoot held at the Powder Creek Shooting Club in Lenexa, and his haunting memories from that fateful night of October 12, 2015.