TO HONOR & REMEMBER

2020 California Firefighters
Memorial Ceremony

The 17th annual California Firefighters Memorial Ceremony honored 34 California firefighters who died in the line of duty. Their names were added to the nearly 1,400 fellow fallen firefighters on the California Firefighters Memorial Wall in Sacramento’s Capitol Park.

The ceremony, held on September 28, 2019, included a procession of uniformed firefighters through Capitol Park and presentation of flags to the families of the fallen. Among those added to the Memorial was Redding Firefighter, Jeremy Stoke who lost his life battling the Carr Fire. Two other firefighters who died battling the Ferguson Fire – Braden Varney from CAL FIRE and Arrowhead Interagency Hotshot Brian Hughes – were also remembered.

More than 1,000 people gathered for the solemn ceremony – firefighters, family members and dignitaries, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. For the first time, the ceremony also featured remarks from the spouse of a fallen firefighter: Ashley Iverson, the widow of fallen CAL FIRE firefighter Cory Iverson.

Unveiled in April of 2002, the California Firefighters Memorial features two stunning statues and a dramatic Memorial Wall on which the names of more than 1,400 fallen firefighters are now engraved. The annual ceremony is conducted by the California Fire Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization created by California Professional Firefighters in 1987.