Calgary Fire Department adds 12 new names to firefighter memorial

In an emotional afternoon ceremony, the names of fallen firefighters were added to Calgary’s firefighter memorial at Police Officers and Firefighters Tribute Plaza, in front of City Hall.

The Sept. 12 ceremony honoured 12 more firefighters who succumbed to occupational injuries from their duties as Calgary firefighters, and added 63 more who succumbed in previous years to the wall of honour—a first for the Calgary Fire Department.

Chief Steve Dongworth said that the knowledge that the service has now on firefighter deaths prompted the change to recognize occupational injury deaths like cancer and suicides in addition to traumatic on call injuries leading to death.

“Previously, the only names that were permanently inscribed on the memorial were nine of our members who died at traumatic calls for events, and that was it,” Chief Dongworth said.

“But we had this growing number since about 2005 of firefighters has been judged to be line of duty deaths, but due to occupational illness, more chronic illnesses, and those kinds of things.”

CFD also permanently added the names of four WW1 soldiers who died in Belgium and France, who had taken leaves of absences from the fire department to serve in the war.

He said that the addition of the 12 new names this year to the roll of fallen firefighters was the highest ever in the service’s history.

“We’ve got it in a year, which is troubling, and we’ll have to see if that’s a continuing trend. Of course we hope not. We hope, we wish that these were the last names we ever added to this memorial and we’ll do everything we can to make sure that’s the case,” Dongworth said.

“You have to bear in mind all these are people who served 20-30 years ago when there wasn’t as much knowledge about the hazards, and the focus wasn’t there to the same degree on health and safety… we’ll do everything we can to make sure that in 20 or 30 years from now, there will be much lower numbers.”

Sacrifices over a lifetime

The names on the memorial, said Chief Dongworth, are reminders of the lifetime of sacrifices firefighters make in the line of duty.

“Even though our last traumatic death was 1992, Senior Firefighter Morley James 31 years ago, the risk is always there,” he said.

“It should be a message that there the risk is always there of sudden death at a call and that exists today, as well as this this less obvious, often invisible toll that firefighters take with the chemicals that they’re exposed to, and at calls with the psychological trauma that can at times lead to suicide.

“All of which are related to the same career that that would kill our members very suddenly and acutely.”

Mayor Jyoti Gondek laid a wreath on behalf of the City of Calgary at the memorial, and spoke about her own personal connection to the occupational deaths that firefighters face.

“I remember a conversation in January of 2013 with my brother-in-law Dave about a wound from a hockey puck to the shin that just didn’t seem to be healing. And then the call that came a few weeks later saying that his lymphatic system wasn’t working as it should. And finally, the confirmation that he had cancer,” she said.

“He was a firefighter. We spent a year watching him deteriorate while he shot us quick smiles and tried to assure all of us that everything would be OK.”

She said that she was one of many members of many families that were at the service to honour fallen loved ones.

“I’m also here to offer ally-ship in your efforts to raise awareness of professional related illnesses and to push harder for more supports for firefighters supports that are related to the physical and mental health of firefighters, as well as provision of proper health care and insurance coverage that addresses the complexities of this profession,” the mayor said.

“Firefighters make a conscious decision every day to put themselves in harm’s way to save lives. Every day they do this. We owe it to them to recognize the conditions and illnesses that take their lives in return.”