Calgary honours 12 fallen firefighters, highest in one year
Posted Sep 12, 2023 6:40 pm.
Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 7:54 pm.
In Calgary’s annual memorial to remember fallen firefighters on Tuesday, 12 new names were added to the Walls of Memory/Lantern of Light monument, marking the highest number in one year.
The Calgary Firefighters Civic Memorial is a yearly ceremony held on the second Tuesday in September at the Municipal Building, in the Police Officers and Firefighters Tribute Plaza.
“It should be a message that the risk is always there of sudden death is always there at a call, and that exists today, as well as this less obvious, often invisible toll that firefighters take,” said Calgary Fire Department Chief Steve Dongworth.
Calgary fighters are honoured in the Calgary Firefighters Civic Memorial at the Municipal Building in Calgary on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Tate Laycraft, CityNews image)
While the ceremony has traditionally honoured those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, this year was different.
Tuesday’s service recognized firefighters who lost their lives to occupational illness and injury, highlighting the lingering impacts that can come with the job.
“With the chemicals they’re exposed to at calls, with the psychological trauma — which can at times lead to suicide. Those kinds of things, all of which are related to the same career that could kill our members very suddenly,” Dongworth explained.
A Calgary Fire Department helmet lies next to a memorial for firefighters at the Municipal Building in Calgary on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Tate Laycraft, CityNews image)
The ceremony also recognized firefighters who left their posts for a greater cause.
“We have four members who left Calgary on leaves of absence in the First World War, amongst 55 of their colleagues who went to fight, and four of them never returned. So they lay in the fields of France and Belgium now,” he said.
The Municipal Building monument now recognizes 76 people who dedicated their lives to helping others.
