After 25 years, the Carson City Firefighters Memorial is getting a face lift.
The memorial, now located in Mills Park, will be reconstructed and moved onto the Capitol Grounds to provide a nicer, more publicized space.
“This will be more visible, well protected and have a lot more visitors,” said Bryon Hunt, of the Professional Firefighters of Nevada. “It is a great place to honor those who gave their time and life to the fire service.”
The new memorial will feature five bronzed firefighter statues with a black granite background depicting all of the Nevada fallen firefighters.
“The old memorial was great, but this is better,” Hunt said. “It is more recognizable as a memorial and it will be representative of what we do.”
One advantage the new spot has is visibility to Nevada lawmakers.
“Though this isn’t about politics, it is a great reminder for those who are in charge of our health to see what we sacrifice for our community,” Hunt said. “It is about honoring the fallen, but it is good to remind those in law making positions to see what we are willing to do for our state and city.”
The old memorial will be decommissioned and disposed of with respect and dignity, Hunt said.
“Being such as great memorial, we want to make sure it is handled in a proper manner,” Hunt said.
For firefighters across the state, this new memorial means a lot to honor their fallen brothers and sisters, especially since they get to share it with their fellow firefighters.
“This means the world to us,” Hunt said. “The old memorial meant so much to us but the new one will be in a location that is more fitting to what we want to represent. Plus it puts us with our brothers and sisters in blue with the Law Enforcement Memorial in the same complex.”
In addition to the names of the fallen, the memorial will have a QR code that can be scanned by smartphones so the statue is interactive and visitors can scan to learn more about each name on the statue.
The PFFN organization has spent nearly a decade trying to relocate the memorial. It wasn’t until the bill passed this legislative session that it could become a reality.
However, residents shouldn’t expect to see the memorial any time soon. Hunt said they don’t anticipate it being up until at least halfway through 2019. Until then, residents can still visit the Mills Park memorial.
While the cost to build the Capitol Grounds memorial hasn’t been cemented, Hunt said it’s anticipated it will cost more than $100,000. For the PFFN, the difficult part of this project will now be finding enough donations to be able to see this through.
“We will have to knock on a lot of doors but that’s OK,” Hunt said. “The PFFN were able to donate a portion of the necessary funds, but that is only a portion so we will be asking for help.”
To help donate, visit PFFN.org for the link to the donation site or checks can be mailed to 9821 Cantebury Rose Lane, Las Vegas 89134.
