SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – (Capitol News Illinois) Firefighters, families, and dignitaries from around the state gathered in Springfield on Tuesday to remember the firefighters who died in the line of duty in the last year.
Capitol News Illinois reports this year, five firefighters were remembered during the annual Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial.
Four of the fallen were a part of the Chicago Fire Department. And the fifth was the chief of Maroa Countryside Fire Protection District.
While the event usually takes place at the Illinois Firefighter Memorial outside the State Capitol, this year it was indoors due to weather.
The names of this year’s fallen firefighters are now engraved at the memorial.
Governor Pritzker spoke at the event, noting it takes a hero to drop everything and put yourself in danger for someone in need.
“Each year at this sacred memorial service, we offer tribute to those heroes…to remind us of the sacrifice they made, and to beckon forth within ourselves, a reminder of our greatest aspirations to serve our families, our communities, our nation with honor,” Pritzker said.
After the memorial, an awards ceremony was held where families of the fallen firefighters were given gold badges.
Medals of honor and valor were given to firefighters from across the state.
Peoria Fire Captain Nicholas Hansen and firefighter Tobias Roderick were honored for their heroic rescue of an unconscious 91-year-old woman in April of last year.
(Reporting by Andrew Campbell, Capitol News Illinois)
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
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