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—Photo by STAR SILVA Chaplain Len Pine, of the Boundary County Chaplain Corps, rides shotgun in the Bonners Ferry Fire Department’s, 1940 Seagrave with Bonners Ferry Fire Chief, Pat Warkentin, as they led fire apparatus through the city, to honor the 2015 fallen firefighters. The Seagrave is the second motorized apparatus purchased for the BFFD, the first being a 1923 REO Speed Wagon which is on display at the Boundary County Museum.
—Photo by STAR SILVA Boundary County firefighters and EMS personnel gather on Oct. 9, in front of Bonners Ferry Fire Department, Station 1. Idaho Department of Lands, Paradise Valley Fire Department, Hall Mountain Fire Department, North Bench Fire Department, City of Bonners Ferry Fire Department. Boundary Ambulance, U.S. Forest Service, Mayor David Sims.
Bells could be heard ringing throughout the city of Bonners Ferry on Sunday, as Boundary County firefighters and EMS personnel gathered at the Bonners Ferry Fire Department Station 1 to pay tribute to 112 firefighters that lost their lives in the line of duty last year.
Community residents, Boundary County Chaplain Corps, Boundary County fire service agencies and EMS personnel led a parade of fire apparatus through the city, arriving downtown at the City Fire’s Main Station to participate in the time-honored, bell-ringing tradition, reflect, read the list of those that lost their lives in the fire service during 2015, and to encourage the living.
City of Bonners Ferry Mayor, David Sims, read a City Proclamation, Chaplain Len Pine, of the BCCC, led a prayer for the honored firefighters and their families, and Bonners Ferry Fire Chief, Pat Warkentin, played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes.
This year, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation included 33 firefighters from FDNY. These 33 firefighters passed away in the years following the terrorist attack on 9/11, as a result of working on “the pile” for several weeks or months, searching for the remains of the missing victims and firefighters while breathing the toxic fumes from the burning debris.
The 33 FDNY firefighters were added this year to the 79 other firefighters nationwide, making 112 men and women who were honored at the memorial service, as well as the firefighters across the nation and crews here in Boundary County, who are ready to serve their community on a daily basis.
The Bonners Ferry Fire Department is a volunteer department, and only hires volunteer firefighters who have completed a six-month, probationary period, and who work on a volunteer basis, according to Bonners Ferry Fire Chief Pat Warkentin. Meaning, the firefighter has completed the minimum required training and is now eligible to receive pay for the emergency calls that they respond to and for their weekly training.