by: NICOLA MACLEOD
April 9, 2014
For The New Brunswick Beacon

Kenneth Irving, Brandon MacKinnon and Joseph Reeves, three teenage boys who loved to bike, died in a fire in Charlottetown,PE early last Saturday. They were 15, 15 and 19, respectively.

All three boys were from Montague, PE area. Irving was a grade 10 student at Montague High School while MacKinnon was in grade 9 at Montague Intermediate. Reeves did not graduate high school. He left in order to take care of his son Isaiah, who celebrated his first birthday Sunday, the day after his father’s death.

Son of Mark and Stacey Reeves, Joseph Allison Reeves, known as Joey to his friends, had 6 siblings and lived in Montague. His funeral was held on Thursday. He was working on his GED.

“Joey was 100 per cent about his son,” said Mitchel Henderson, who is Isaiah’s godfather. “He was always there to talk with anyone who needed him.”

“He was an amazing father, friend, and son.”

All three boys died in a fire in an abandoned driving range building behind the Charlottetown Mall. A fourth boy, Brandon Quinn, suffered severed burns and is still in hospital in Halifax. The Charlottetown Police are still investigating the incident.

“Joey loved to spend time with family and friends and loved to go for drives just to get out of Montague, which is a huge memory for me.”

Henderson was good friends with all three of the boys. Since their death, he has gotten a tattoo on his chest of two praying hands with “03.29.14,” the date of the fire.

“I not only lost three friends, but I lost three brothers,” says Henderson.

Grade 9 student Brandon MacKinnon, who friends called “Bmack”, was the son of Brian Breau and Sandra Jenkins. He lived in St. Theresa and had four siblings. His funeral was held last Wednesday.

After their death, friends and family took to the Facebook group “In Memory of the Boys” to share their stories. Many people said they would miss MacKinnon’s hugs, sense of humor and most importantly, his laugh.

“I will always remember his laugh no matter what,” says Henderson. “He had that kind of laugh that would make you laugh.”

All three boys loved to bike and people in Montague are rallying to have a skate park built in their memory. Many of Henderson’s best memories with the boys was when they were biking together.

“I will always remember the look he [Kenneth] had on his face when he got on his new BMX for the first time.”

Kenneth Cameron Irving was the son of Steven Irving and Nancy Llewellyn of Peters Road. He has one younger brother. He loved hanging out with his friends was notorious for wearing tank tops and rubber boots. On their memorial Facebook page, Kenneth’s father encouraged any of his friends who wanted to wear rubber boots to the wake and funeral, which was held on Saturday.

The flag at Montague High School flew at half-mast in honor of the boys. Students also laid flowers around the flag pole.

“They are all sitting in heaven watching over all of their friends and have a seat up there just waiting for someday when we get to be with them once again.”