Fallen firefighters honoured at City Hall
Posted Sep 9, 2014 4:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was an emotional morning at Calgary City Hall Tuesday.
Thirty-six firefighters who died while fighting fire or due to illnesses related to their job were honoured at the Calgary Fire Dept.’s annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.
This year, four members were remembered for the first time.
They included:
Captain James R Keats – May 30th, 2006
Captain Allan Anderson – April 9th, 2013
Captain Robert Moore – August 11th, 2013
Captain William J McCaw – Sept. 11th, 2013
The ceremony included speeches from Mayor Naheed Nenshi and several fire officials, as well as a moment of silence, laying of wreathes and wringing of the bell in honour of each firefighter.
Shirley Beady is the widow of Deputy Chief Bill Beady, who passed away on May 9th, 2005 and she made the trip from Vancouver to be there.
“I think it was very meaningful for all of the families, a little bit of closure I think,” she said. “It is a dangerous job and it’s a job I think all of them love, I know my husband loved it until the day he retired, it’s very important and they are a very important piece of the whole community.”
This was the first ceremony for Ken Uzeloc as chief since taking over for Bruce Burrell.
He said it was different from those he’s attended before.
“You want make sure it’s perfect for the families, you want to make sure it’s perfect for the memory of our fallen because they deserve it,” he said.
