Three Kent Fire Department members assist with Arizona firefighter funeral services

Three members of the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority were deployed earlier this month to Arizona to assist in the honoring and funeral services of the 19 hotshot firefighters who died June 30 in an Arizona wild fire.

Kent’s members of the Washington State Local Assistance Team were Division Chief Pat Pawlak, Battalion Chief Kevin Garling and Capt. Kyle Ohashi, according to a Kent Fire Department media release.

Local assistance state teams are firefighters and specialists recruited and trained to provide assistance and comfort to a family and department following a line of duty death. A line of duty death is one which is attributable to the profession of firefighting. First organized in 2006 by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, teams can now be found in every state as well as the District of Columbia.

Four members of the Spokane County Fire District also were on the seven-member team deployed July 8 to Prescott, Ariz. The team from Missouri joined the Washington team in Arizona.

The Washington team was responsible for four of the funeral services held in the Prescott area. This included overseeing the processions as well as ceremonies at the funeral homes, the churches, and at the cemeteries. In one case, the team was put in charge of a service at a location over two hours away from Prescott.

“Our number one objective at all times was to make sure that the family’s wishes were followed to the best of our ability to honor their fallen firefighter,” said Pawlak, who led the deployment team.

Pat Ellis, crisis intervention coordinator for the Kent Fire Department, oversees the Washington team.

“We were honored to be one of only two teams nationally to be requested,” Ellis said. “Our members are professional, dedicated, and always ready to assist any department who requests us.”