Church bells throughout Juneau and across the nation will ring out today in honor of firefighters who died in the line of duty.
Capital City Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Etheridge said he is proud that Juneau is participating in the event Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters, the first nation-wide remembrance ceremony for fallen firefighters, according to the website of the nonprofit group that organized the event, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
“It’s a chance to stop and recognize the people who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Etheridge said. “It’s a day of remembrance.”
In Juneau, the public is invited to attend a memorial ceremony at 1 p.m. at Centennial Hall Convention Center, 101 Egan Drive. It will feature speeches from City Manager Rod Swope, state Rep. Beth Kerttula and Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety Terry Vrabec.
A group of CCFR firefighters will then read off the names of Alaskan firefighters who died in uniform. Juneau has had two firefighters who died related to doing their duty — Chief Mike Semster in 2004, and Bill Rudolf, who died in 1941, Etheridge said.
Local church group Auke Bay Bible Bell Choir will then perform, and other churches around town that were asked to participate will sound church bells throughout the day.
Nationwide, many other communities have coordinated with the clergy to chime church bells, hold a moment of silence, a brief prayer, a hymn and combinations of the above to remember those who gave their lives in uniform.
The bell-ringing ceremony is part of the 2011 30th anniversary of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, also established by the NFFF. That memorial will be held at National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., and will honor 72 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2010, as well as 17 firefighters who died in previous years. Their names will be added to a bronze plaque on the National Fire Academy campus.
There were not any line-of-duty deaths in Alaska last year, but there were in 27 other states. Illinois experienced the greatest number, with eight deaths; New York and Pennsylvania had seven; and Kansas has six, says the NFFF.
Etheridge noted that in decades past, it was tradition to ring church bells in town to notify the public that a firefighter had died. Firehouse station bells would also toll a series of alarms, which is a tradition that still lives on today.
For more information about Bells Across America, visit bellsacrossamerica.com.
