A monument dedicated to London’s fallen firefighters will be unveiled in September, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
“It was in the original planning stages probably about five or six years ago and we’re really trying to put the push on it,” said Jim Holmes, president of the firefighter association. “We’re very excited about it.”
The monument will be erected in front of the Horton Street fire station. It will feature a marble cross with 21 names etched in it commemorating the firefighters who have died in the line of duty or due to occupational diseases.
Holmes said it’s only Phase One of the memorial, with plans in the works to add a bench and garden area next year. As well, once the monument is in place, the Horton fire station is expected to be renamed the Memorial Headquarters.
“A lot of people go by there, a lot of people drive by, so it will be very visible,” Holmes said about the monument’s location.
With 33 years of firefighting experience behind him, Holmes knows some of the firefighters listed on the memorial. His connection to one is very personal, as this particular firefighter helped shape Holmes life and career path.
“Some of the names go way back to 1903 but my father is actually on there. He is a line of duty death,” Holmes said. “There’s a lot of recent one’s on there that I knew very well.”
The monument will be unveiled on September 11 in recognition of the 9/11 tragedy. Although the terrorist attack happened on foreign soil, Holmes said it’s a memory forever etched in the minds of most firefighters.
“We’ve never really had a focus day. There’s fire prevention week and all these other good things we do in the community, but there’s never really been that focus and September 11 is something that everybody in the world remembers,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of fire departments everywhere that do something on that day because it means so much to us.”
The monument will cost about $60,000, and one London firefighter is trying to do his part to help ease the cost.
Corey Cameron, an 11-year firefighting veteran, used his musical talents, along the skills of his brother-in-law, Dan Brodbeck, a Juno-award winning engineer, to record The Rescue, with proceeds going towards the memorial.
“The most important thing to me is I didn’t want to do a disservice to that whole message and I wanted to pay tribute to it with some dignity and respect,” Cameron said.
“I brought it to the association with the idea that the song could be used as an anthem for campaigns and proposed the idea of raising money for the monument.”
Although the song is dedicated to 9/11, Cameron said the song could touch just about everyone.
“It doesn’t necessarily talk about firefighters, police, and emergency responders, and it doesn’t mention 9/11,” he said. “To those who maybe know what it’s like to need help and to those that maybe have been involved in lending a hand, that’s sort of the message of the song.”
The song is available for purchase on iTunes or at www.therescue.ca. Cameron said it is still unclear how much money the song has brought in because he can’t track the number of times it’s been downloaded until next month.
The service to honour those who lost their lives on 9/11, along with the unveiling of the new monument, will take place at 1 p.m. at 400 Horton St. E.
