County Supervisors Approve Waterfront Park Memorial to Fallen Firefighters

A motion to build a memorial at Waterfront Park to firefighters who died in the line of duty was unanimously approved Tuesday by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

The vote to build the San Diego Regional Firefighter Memorial marked the first step in the process of planning and raising funds, according to an aide to Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who proposed the memorial.

See more

We are now beginning the work of creating a firefighter memorial to honor those who pass in the line of duty. This memorial will serve as not only an appreciation for our firefighters but also a physical location for loved ones to gather and remember those who we have lost. pic.twitter.com/dTyzQ7MxVo

— Supervisor Nathan Fletcher (@SupFletcher) October 25, 2022

To pay for early planning and a conceptual design, the board also approved transferring $10,000 from Fletcher’s Community Enhancement Program budget to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Supervisor Joel Anderson thanked Fletcher for proposing the memorial and offered to match the existing $10,000 from his office’s account.

The nonprofit San Diego Regional Firefighter Foundation will be formed to raise money, add names to the memorial and host an annual event honoring fallen firefighters, the aide said.

Waterfront Park is the site of a memorial for law enforcement officers. The proposed firefighter memorial would be of a similar size, based on a design from representatives of Cal Fire, the county’s Fire and Parks & Recreation departments, and other related groups.

The proposed memorial is supported by the San Diego County Fire Chiefs Association, which is committed to helping guide its creation process, said Criss Brainard, the association’s vice president and chief of San Miguel Fire & Rescue.

City News Service contributed to this article.