Annual Arizona fallen firefighter memorial service set this weekend in Phoenix
Jan 10, 2025, 9:59 AM
PHOENIX — The Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona (PFFA) is hosting its annual fallen firefighter memorial service on Sunday in Phoenix.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, an urban park in downtown Phoenix that honors prominent Arizonan figures.
The plaza, which is home to the Arizona Fallen Firefighters & Emergency Paramedics Memorial, is located outside the Arizona State Capitol near 17th Avenue and Jefferson Street.
The memorial honors the 167 Arizona firefighters and paramedics who have lost their lives in the line of duty dating back to 1902.
Details about Arizona’s 2025 fallen firefighter memorial
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Fire departments from across the state will be at Sunday’s event, along with honor guards, pipe bands and various fire and medical personnel. There will also be displays of firefighting apparatus.
The PFFA expects hundreds of people to pay their respects, from community members to people who were related to fallen firefighters.
PFFA President Dan Freiberg said this yearly event is an important way to commemorate first responders.
“This annual memorial allows us to remember the courage and selflessness of Arizona’s fallen firefighters,” Freiberg said in a news release. “Their legacy of dedication and bravery will never be forgotten.”
Scottsdale captain to be honored at fallen firefighter memorial
The name of Kory Michael Yule is being added to the Arizona Fallen Firefighters & Emergency Paramedics Memorial. Yule is a Scottsdale fire captain who died of multiple myeloma, a type of bone cancer, at the age of 42 in January 2024.
He’s not the only firefighter to have passed away from cancer this year. In December, Tempe Fire Capt. Scott Leatham died from a rare cancer. His death followed his battle with an illness that was determined to be related to his work, officials said.
“He has become yet another firefighter taken too soon by a disease that disproportionately affects those in our profession,” PFFA said in a social media post after Leatham’s funeral last week.
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