Thousands pay tribute to fallen firefighters during annual memorial in Colorado Springs
Marina Garcia
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial service created an overwhelming sense of community as the lives lost in 2024 were remembered and celebrated.
Three hundred eleven names were added to the Fallen Firefighters’ Wall of Honor in Colorado Springs on Saturday morning.
Whether a local to Colorado Springs or having traveled from Canada or further, people gathered for one reason: to remember the lives of firefighters who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
“When you hear a hundred bagpipes, you know, playing Amazing Grace, it puts shivers down your spine,” says Frank Lima, the general secretary treasurer of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
The sound of bagpipes, firefighters marching in unity, and chairs filled with mourning families was a beautiful tribute to the impact these fallen firefighters have left behind.
And it reminds active firefighters of their enduring responsibility to the community.
“Being able to wear this flag and honor the people that I work around, and all the fallen. It’s just a great honor, privilege to be able to wear this uniform and do what I do,” says Oscar Navarro, a captain of the Goodyear Fire Department.
A widow we spoke to says being embraced by the IAFF has given her and her family a new appreciation for her late husband and his colleagues.
“I think that’s a big part of grieving is connecting with other people. And, you know, finding out how they…felt about him and how they interacted with him and just things you were never aware of before,” says widow, Kristen Silvestrich.
The IAFF says they have been coming to Colorado Springs for over twenty years, and the welcoming community is why they always come back.
When they come back next year, at least one Colorado Springs firefighter will have his name added: retired captain Patrick Rogacki, who died from job-related cancer this summer.