Post by blackcrowheart on Dec 7, 2006 12:31:41 GMT -5
Fallen firefighters remembered at national fire center ceremony
By ALICIA P.Q. WITTMEYER
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_ID_Firefighter_Memorial.html?\
source=rss
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_ID_Firefighter_Memorial.html\
?source=rss>
BOISE, Idaho -- When Bodie Shaw visited the World War II memorials and
Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., he viewed them with respect, but
also with detachment.
But when Shaw heard about the memorial for wildland firefighters, it was
different. Shaw worked on a first response fire crew for six years, and
has friends killed in the line of duty who have been honored in the
memorial.
"Here I felt a connection, because I'd done this. I knew what they'd
been through," said Shaw, a Bureau of Indian Affairs fire manager and a
member of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which created the
memorial.
Shaw was one of dozens gathered at the National Interagency Fire Center
in Boise on Wednesday to honor firefighters past and present, during a
ceremony for five men and women killed while battling wildfires who were
remembered with memorial stones.
James Rangell, Michelle Fay Smith, Richard Rosvall, Larry Hoffman and
Frank Funston were honored for their service with stones that were
purchased by family and friends. Over the last decade, an average of 18
wildland firefighters were killed annually, according to the fire
agency.
The monument, constructed in 2000, was built to honor those whose fight
fires that consume millions of acres every year. Of the 160 memorial
stones placed on the ground next to the walkways around the monument,
112 are in memory of firefighters killed in the line of duty.
"The memorial stands witness and as a place to honor all firefighters,"
said Tim Murphy, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management's
Office of Fire and Aviation. "We must never forget those who have
suffered and have lost their lives."
The memorial is planted to represent landscapes where wildland
firefighters do their work. Sagebrush represents the western deserts;
pinion pines represent the woods and forests.
People leave firefighter hats and toy models of fire trucks and
helicopters on the memorial stones. On one of the rocks, someone had
placed a burnt fireman's glove. On another lay sticks and pieces of rock
that had been scorched in the same fire that claimed those firefighter's
lives.
The memorial provides respite from the hectic scene of a wildfire -
especially after a team member is killed, said Vicki Minor, executive
director of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which provides
assistance to families of firefighters who were killed on the job.
"The fire never lets you stop and grieve. During fire season,
firefighters have to crawl into their tents and weep," Minor said. "This
is a place for them to come and grieve and breathe and remember."
The ceremony also included performances from several local Indian
tribes, in part to recognize contributions of tribal members who were
among the nation's first firefighters, speakers at the ceremony said.
Members of several tribes danced and sang, and Chief Delvis Heath, of
the Warm Springs Tribe in Oregon, sang a traditional song honoring a
fallen warrior.
"When this monument was built, I wanted to have Native American singers
and drummers, but instead we had a lot of delegates from Washington,
D.C.," Minor said. "In my heart, the Native American blessings mean
more. Our firefighters are connected to the Earth."
By ALICIA P.Q. WITTMEYER
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_ID_Firefighter_Memorial.html?\
source=rss
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_ID_Firefighter_Memorial.html\
?source=rss>
BOISE, Idaho -- When Bodie Shaw visited the World War II memorials and
Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., he viewed them with respect, but
also with detachment.
But when Shaw heard about the memorial for wildland firefighters, it was
different. Shaw worked on a first response fire crew for six years, and
has friends killed in the line of duty who have been honored in the
memorial.
"Here I felt a connection, because I'd done this. I knew what they'd
been through," said Shaw, a Bureau of Indian Affairs fire manager and a
member of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which created the
memorial.
Shaw was one of dozens gathered at the National Interagency Fire Center
in Boise on Wednesday to honor firefighters past and present, during a
ceremony for five men and women killed while battling wildfires who were
remembered with memorial stones.
James Rangell, Michelle Fay Smith, Richard Rosvall, Larry Hoffman and
Frank Funston were honored for their service with stones that were
purchased by family and friends. Over the last decade, an average of 18
wildland firefighters were killed annually, according to the fire
agency.
The monument, constructed in 2000, was built to honor those whose fight
fires that consume millions of acres every year. Of the 160 memorial
stones placed on the ground next to the walkways around the monument,
112 are in memory of firefighters killed in the line of duty.
"The memorial stands witness and as a place to honor all firefighters,"
said Tim Murphy, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management's
Office of Fire and Aviation. "We must never forget those who have
suffered and have lost their lives."
The memorial is planted to represent landscapes where wildland
firefighters do their work. Sagebrush represents the western deserts;
pinion pines represent the woods and forests.
People leave firefighter hats and toy models of fire trucks and
helicopters on the memorial stones. On one of the rocks, someone had
placed a burnt fireman's glove. On another lay sticks and pieces of rock
that had been scorched in the same fire that claimed those firefighter's
lives.
The memorial provides respite from the hectic scene of a wildfire -
especially after a team member is killed, said Vicki Minor, executive
director of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which provides
assistance to families of firefighters who were killed on the job.
"The fire never lets you stop and grieve. During fire season,
firefighters have to crawl into their tents and weep," Minor said. "This
is a place for them to come and grieve and breathe and remember."
The ceremony also included performances from several local Indian
tribes, in part to recognize contributions of tribal members who were
among the nation's first firefighters, speakers at the ceremony said.
Members of several tribes danced and sang, and Chief Delvis Heath, of
the Warm Springs Tribe in Oregon, sang a traditional song honoring a
fallen warrior.
"When this monument was built, I wanted to have Native American singers
and drummers, but instead we had a lot of delegates from Washington,
D.C.," Minor said. "In my heart, the Native American blessings mean
more. Our firefighters are connected to the Earth."