| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LA firefighter proposes to girlfriend using firetruck ladder
Thursday June 19, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) A 26-year-old firefighter, his heart aflame with love, used a 100-foot aerial ladder to propose marriage to his 23-year-old girlfriend.
``I want to spend the rest of my life with you,'' Lee Castillo told Megan Porco. ``I love you. Will you marry me?''
Castillo, with the Fire Department two years, climbed to the second floor patio of a Sherman Oaks restaurant Wednesday, getting a lift from a hook-and-ladder firetruck. He brought along a diamond ring and a dozen red roses.
Porco was having lunch with her parents when Castillo suddenly appeared in his dress uniform.
``I wanted to make it special for her,'' Castillo said.
Castillo was on a day off, but fellow on-duty firefighters from Station 88 stopped at the restaurant while on routine patrol of the neighborhood, said city fire spokesman Brian Humphrey.
(