Firefighter Christopher “CJ” Johanson
Chris answered the call for 24 years.
Chris was hired by the Lake Mohegan Fire District on August 28, 2000, and served as a career firefighter for 24 years. He was last assigned to Station 2, the Jefferson Valley Firehouse, on Group 1.
The Local remembers him as a great firefighter, a friend, a family man, and a mentor to all who came up alongside him. In the words of Fire Chief Thomas Eade: “Chris was a dear friend to many of us.”
Chris is survived by his wife Christine, his son Riley, and his two daughters Amanda and Elaina.
We brought our brother home.
On Friday, January 3, 2025, members of Local 2956 laid FF Johanson to rest at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring, New York — with an honor procession, a police motorcycle escort organized by the Yorktown Police Department, and pipes and drums leading the way.
Clinton Funeral Home
21 Parrott Street, Cold Spring, NY
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
1 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, NY
Police Motorcycle Escort
Orange County Pipes and Drums
While we mourned, our district was covered.
For two days, neighboring Locals and departments — without hesitation — staffed our four stations so every member of Local 2956 could honor our brother. We are forever grateful.
- HQ Rye Firefighters · Scarsdale · Hartsdale/Greenburgh
- Jefferson Valley Fairview/Greenburgh
- Furnace Woods Peekskill
- Hollowbrook White Plains
- HQ Yonkers
- Jefferson Valley Greenville/Greenburgh
- Furnace Woods Peekskill
- Hollowbrook Scarsdale
Coverage photos by Gus Stretz and Joe Pinto.
A community answered.
A GoFundMe was created on December 27, 2024, by Ryan Piazza on behalf of Chris’s wife Christine. It remains open, and we continue to honor Chris’s legacy through it.
Rest easy, brother.
We’ll take it from here.
We honor more than our own.
Local 2956 is one chapter in a wider family of professional firefighters. We honor the brothers and sisters across the IAFF, and the firefighters of every kind — career, volunteer, paid-call — who have given their lives in service to their communities.
Tributes rotated daily from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Roll of Honor.