A memorial service to honor Missouri firefighters who died in the line of duty will be held this weekend and will include four former St. Joseph firefighters.
Services will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Fire Fighters Memorial of Missouri in Kingdom City.
A candlelight vigil will be held for all Missouri firefighters who have died while serving their communities on Saturday at 9 p.m. Then Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. a ceremony will be held to add two firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2014.
48-year-old Lt. Bruce E. Britt with the Columbia Fire Dept. lost his life trying to evacuate students from a University of Missouri residence apartment building when a portion of the building’s elevated walkway collapsed on Feb. 22, 2014. 45-year-old Chief Eddie J. Johnson with the Alton Fire Department died Oct. 20, 2014 in a single-vehicle crash while responding in a police vehicle to a house fire.
Five others members who lost their lives protecting citizens, including four from St. Joseph will also be added to the Fire Fighters Line of Duty Memorial Wall.
Those individuals are:
St. Joseph Fire Department Asst. Chief Clarence (Shorty) Stiles, who died at the age of 54 on June 29, 1968. He died after coming into contact with high voltage lines while climbing an aerial ladder at a fire scene. He was a 25-year veteran of the department.
St. Joseph Fire Department First Asst. Chief William A Huebner died at the age of 59 on Oct. 5, 1952. He died of an apparent heart attack while fighting a structure fire. He was a 35-year veteran of the department.
St. Joseph Fire Department Engineer Herman F. Metz died at the age of 56 on Feb. 22, 1918. Metz died after falling and being trampled by the horses pulling his fire vehicle en route to a fire.
St. Joseph Fire Department Firefighter Blass Argus will also be added to the wall. He died at the age of 35 on Jan. 23, 1870. Argus was one of three who died due to a structure fire. During secondary search operations a wall collapsed on Argus and four other firefighters. Argus died a short time after being severely injured.
The fifth individual to be added to the wall is Camdenton Rural Fire Association (now Camdenton Fire Protection District) Firefighter George Hill III. He died Oct. 26 1973 after a tanker truck he was riding in rolled over while responding to a vehicle fire, ejecting Hill and the driver.
“Firefighters across Missouri sacrifice time at home with their own families in order to rush to burning houses, overturned vehicles and other emergency calls,” said Acting State Fire Marshal Greg Carrell. “We remember the heroes we lost for the commitment they made to improve their communities and the examples they set for others in the fire service.”
Both events will take place at the Fire Fighters Memorial of Missouri, which is located one block northwest of the I-70 & U.S. Highway 54 intersection (I-70 Exit 148) in Kingdom City, Mo. In case of inclement weather, events will be moved to Auxvasse Elementary School, 650 E. Harrison St., Auxvasse, MO 65231.