No room for fallen Texas firefighters on monument

USATODAY

Recent processions and eulogies memorialized the 10 firefighters killed last month in a West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion, but making their names a permanent part of Texas history may prove difficult.

A 50-foot-tall memorial to Texas volunteer firefighters killed in the line of duty located on the Texas Capitol grounds in Austin has run out of room to add more names. The bronze statue of a fireman with a baby cradled in one hand, a lantern in the other, is one of the oldest monuments in Austin and one of most prestigious recognitions of fallen volunteer firefighters, said Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas. The last name was added in 2011: Thomas Araguz III, a captain with the Wharton Volunteer Fire Department who was killed the previous year fighting a fire at an egg farm in Boling, Texas, near Houston.

The association, which owns the statue, needs to raise more than $100,000 to build an expansion to the memorial, Barron said. The West explosion — one of the deadliest incidents involving firefighters in Texas history — has injected a renewed sense of urgency to the project, he said.

"We need to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice," Barron said. "The only way to do that is to expand the monument."

Volunteer fire departments make up about 78% of Texas' 1,400 fire departments across the state, he said. Between four and six are killed each year while on duty.

Erected in 1896, the volunteer firefighters' statue sits on the south lawn of the Capitol and is the second-oldest among the 22 monuments spread across the grounds, said Ali James, Capitol curator. Only the Heroes of the Alamo monument, erected in 1891, is older. Visitors coming into the Capitol are greeted by the firefighter's towering pose and are drawn to the 138 names etched in the pedestal, she said.

Names on the monument range from the 27 volunteer firefighters killed in the 1947 Texas City ship explosion, to the 19 killed in a 1956 refinery fire in North Texas, to more recent firefighters who have died battling wildfires. Since the monument filled up, seven more names have been added to a temporary granite slab laid next to it, James said.

The West firefighters — all volunteers — deserve to have their names permanently etched next to their fallen colleagues, she said.

"It's a very important structure," James said. "It really gives you a chance to reflect on their service."

State Rep. Drew Springer said he found out the memorial had no more room for new names last year while attending a memorial for fallen firefighters from his district. He called Barron and pledged to help create a fundraising strategy and line up potential donors to raise the necessary money for the expansion, he said.

The tragedy at West puts the effort in the spotlight, said Springer, a volunteer firefighter himself from Muenster, Texas.

"It's our only spot in the state where we're recognized," he said of the memorial. "To have it at the Capitol means an awful lot."

Before the memorial filled up, new names were added every other year in a ceremony that included an honor guard march and solemn pipes-and-drum dirge, Barron said. More than 1,000 spectators usually attended, including several hundred firefighters.

It'll be a shame to squander that level of recognition for volunteers who put their lives on the line for free, he said.

"They're getting paid nothing," Barron said. "We can at least honor them by putting their names on an historical artifact."