“Never forget.
We say these words as a vow to remember.
They are also spoken to assure families, friends and colleagues that your loved one will never be forgotten. Their lives and service have made an indelible mark that can never be erased.”
– Seattle Fire Chief Harold D. Scoggins
The Seattle Fire Department today held a ceremony to honor all of its firefighters who have died in the line of duty since the department’s start in 1889. The ceremony was held in Occidental Park, the location of a moving monument inspired by the deaths of four firefighters in the Pang arson fire in January 1995.
Family and friends of Lt. Luis Batayola gathered alongside more than hundred Seattle Fire personnel and community members to pay homage to his service. He passed away on Nov. 24, 2021, after courageously battling a duty-related illness.
Lt. Batayola was a 37-year firefighter with the department, serving on Engines 8, 41, 2, 10, 21, Ladder 1 and Engine 38. He was a certified hazardous materials technician, an original team member for the Aviation Operations Group and a trained peer support member.
Speakers included Sr. Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, Local 2898 representative Deputy Chief Debra Sutey and Local 27 President Lt. Kenny Stuart. City Attorney Ann Davison and Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz lent their support in person as well.
The ceremony was also attended by the families of several other fallen department members: Lt. Willy Cababat, Jr. (2021), FF Marvin Larry (2018), FF Joshua Milton (2015) and FF Nathaniel Ford (2005). Lt. Cababat was remembered in last year’s service.
While the Seattle Fire ceremony is held to remember those fallen in the line of duty, Fire Chief Scoggins noted Seattle’s monument is a sacred space to remember all Seattle firefighters who have served.
Next weekend, the Cababat and Batayola families will travel to the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where their names will be included along with 106 other firefighters who passed in 2021 because of work-related injury or illness.
The complete list of Seattle Fire’s fallen can be viewed at https://www.seattle.gov/fire/about-us/fallen-firefighter-memorial.
