Blog: City Blog

Courage and Selfless Service Honored at KFD's Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service

At the Oct. 25, 2018, Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, the City honored 24 firefighters who have died in the line of duty.

At today's Knoxville Fire Department Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, current and retired firefighters, City staff and elected officials paid tribute to the 24 City firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty over the history of our city.

The first firefighter to make the ultimate sacrifice was George H. Smith, who was killed in 1875, when the City’s Fire Department was still a volunteer unit.

Today's ceremony was at Firefighter Memorial Park, at the downtown fire station, 600 Summit Hill Drive.

Also remembered and honored were the 12 retired City firefighters who have passed away since last year’s memorial service.

The professionalization of the Knoxville Fire Department began 133 years ago, when a core of paid, trained firefighting professionals made their first fire run in 1885. Through the decades, KFD has earned the gratitude of citizens the hard way – by running into burning buildings and saving lives.

Just last year, KFD responded to almost 24,000 calls for emergency service. That’s an average of about 65 emergency runs each and every day.

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Posted by evreeland On 26 October, 2018 at 2:14 PM