Emmitsburg (AP) — Nine men who died fighting a northern California wildfire last year will be remembered Sunday during the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.
The annual ceremony on the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg honors firefighters who died in the line of duty. Family members and co-workers from around the country will watch as a plaque bearing the names of 103 firefighters who died in 2008 and 19 from previous years is added to the white stone monument on the mountaintop campus.
“The fire service is honored and humbled to memorialize these fallen heroes and show our sincere appreciation for the sacrifices made by those they left behind,” Dennis Compton, chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said in a prepared statement.
The names include those of eight Oregon firefighters and one from California who perished in a fiery helicopter crash in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area near Weaverville on Aug. 5, 2008.
The cause of the crash, the deadliest firefighting air disaster in U.S. history, remains under investigation, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s Web site.
The men died when their Sikorsky S-61N helicopter crashed on takeoff while ferrying the crew from fire lines. Four men survived the crash.
Killed were Carson Helicopter Services Inc. pilot Roark Schwanenberg, of Lostine, Ore.; U.S. Forest Service inspector pilot Jim Ramage, of Redding, Calif.; and seven Oregon-based employees of Grayback Forestry Inc.: Shawn Blazer, of Medford; Scott Charleson, of Phoenix; Matthew Hammer, of Grants Pass; Edrik Gomez, of Ashland; Bryan Rich, of Medford; Steven “Caleb” Renno, of Cave Junction; and David Steele, of Ashland.
The service also will honor two Missouri firefighters, Leonard Riggins, of St. Louis, and Ryan Hummert, of Maplewood, who were fatally shot while responding to emergencies.
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