Firefighters, their families, departments and community leaders gathered in Sacramento on Saturday to pay tribute to the 82 California firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty with a memorial ceremony at the Safe Credit Union Convention Center.
“It’s solemn, but we also want it be as uplifting as it can be to help those family members remember,” said Rick Martinez, the executive director of the California Fire Foundation. Marking 20 years of the California Firefighters Memorial in Sacramento’s Capitol Park and the first in-person memorial event since the start of the pandemic, the ceremony honored families who lost a loved one in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Families of each fallen firefighter were presented with a flag during the memorial.