By Kim Nguyen
The Gazette
Copyright 2007 The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Firefighters and family members from around the nation have gathered in Colorado Springs to remember those who have died in the line of duty in the past year.
The International Association of Fire Fighters on Wednesday began greeting family and taking them to their hotels as they arrived in Colorado Springs. On Saturday afternoon, they’ll be at Memorial Park for the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Ceremony, where 115 union firefighters and paramedics will be honored and have their names etched onto marble walls that already bear nearly 2,000 names.
The IAFF has offices in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa.
“The trip to Colorado Springs every year is both an honor and solemn duty,” IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said on the group’s Web site. “The IAFF understands and respects the emotions that the family and friends who attend must be feeling. That is why it is so important that we plan a fitting tribute to each of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Included in this year’s group are Capts. Harold Lessard and Thomas Nichols of the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Fire Paramedic Service. They died Feb. 4 when a sudden burst of flames engulfed them as they fought a house fire, according to news reports.
Lessard and Nichols were honored in a memorial service attended by approximately 2,000 firefighters from across North America. And a Winnipeg firefighter wrote and recorded a song in remembrance of the captains.
The IAFF says the names engraved on the memorial’s walls only date back to 1976, the same year the federal government began tracking lineof-duty deaths among fire departments.