Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe was in Ottawa this past weekend, honouring fallen firefighters. 

Wiebe says he was part of the delegation from the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs at the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation memorial weekend. 

“The memorial service took place September 10th, the Sunday, in Ottawa at the firefighter memorial. This year they honoured the 86 men and women, honoured them and their families and their names were added to the memorial wall. It was a really fantastic ceremony to take in.” 

He adds “This honours men and women who died in a line-of-duty-death which includes front-line firefighting but it also deaths from occupational illnesses such as cancers and so on, any illness that was obtained from their fire service is considered a line-of-duty-death in this country. It is great to honour them as well, their sacrifice is no less.” 

many men in uniformFire Chiefs from across the country participate in the memorial service on Sunday

This memorial weekend and service is held annually in Ottawa, and Wiebe notes he was one of four people representing Manitoba this year. He was joined by Steinbach Deputy Fire Chief Ron Chausse, The Pas Fire Chief Cody Langlois and Winnipeg Beach Firefighter Travis Taylor. 

Wiebe says this was his first time at the event and it was quite emotional. 

“The families are there, CFFF does a great job of making it all about them this weekend. They have a lot of things planned for the families and it is really great to see. We were there to be a part of the ceremony and so it is great for us as well, but it is really nice to see them doing something like this for the families.” 

Wiebe adds this was an eye-opening experience that he will never forget.

 

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