Milwaukee City Wire

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett recently tweeted about the 25th Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial Ceremony, which honored the 141 firefighters who have died in the line of service during Milwaukee's history.

FOX 6 News reports that Barrett and city leaders were in attendance at the ceremony, which was held Oct. 6 at the Milwaukee Fire Department Headquarters.

"I am grateful to the men and women of the @MilFireDept who have committed themselves to protect and serve the City of Milwaukee," Barrett wrote in a Sept. 7 Twitter post. "The 25th Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial Ceremony yesterday was a beautiful tribute to the tremendous sacrifices these heroes have made."

Wisconsin Rapid Tribune reports that the 16th annual Final Alarm and Roll Call Ceremony was held at the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3:33 p.m. The memorial honored six Wisconsin firefighters and EMS workers who died in 2019 and 2020. Three of the individuals honored died from COVID after being exposed while on duty. One of the people honored was a member of the Milwaukee Fire Department – Paramedic Lt. Odell Minor, who died of cancer.

"Over the last 146 years, a lot has changed. Technology has improved, training has improved, clearly, the equipment that firefighters use has improved. But the one thing that has not changed is the courage; the courage that's needed to be an effective firefighter, the courage to put oneself in harm's way when others are running away or avoiding a problem," Barrett said.

So far this year, 105 firefighters in the U.S. have died while on duty, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.