Goodyear firefighters to run marathon in honor of fallen firefighter

PHOENIX – Goodyear firefighters will run a marathon between two stations on Wednesday in honor of a firefighter who died last year from cancer.

A total of 35 firefighters will hit the pavement in honor of Austin Peck, who lost his battle with occupational cancer in August 2019.

“For us, it’s to commemorate the sacrifice and what Austin did for us – he made this a better place, a safer place for us to work,” Goodyear Fire Department Capt.Orion Godfrey said in a press release.

“We’re stronger because of him. We haven’t forgotten him, and we’ll never forget him.”

The firefighters usually take part in the annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., but the race was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As an alternative, the firefighters’ course will start and end at two new fire stations that are currently under construction in Goodyear, Fire Stations 181 and 186.

Both stations are designed with firefighters’ health in mind. They will feature more efficient decontamination procedures, like a two-door system to help knock-off contaminants after fighting fires.

Peck medically retired from the Goodyear Fire Department last summer after more than a decade of service to continue his fight against cancer. He was memorialized as a line-of-duty death.

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