Firefighters from Sun Prairie, Lake Mills and Port Washington added to state memorial wall

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include information that the Final Alarm Ceremony at 3:33 p.m. Saturday has been moved to Crossview Church, 1000 E. Riverview Expressway in Wisconsin Rapids, due to forecasted rain and snow.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - Firefighters from across the state will honor three of their fallen colleagues — from Sun Prairie, Lake Mills and Port Washington — on Saturday with a ceremony and silent procession.

Each October, they gather at the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial in Ben Hansen Park to remember those who gave their lives in the line of duty. Officials add their names to the wall before holding a ceremony in their honor.

Two of the firefighters the group will honor this year died in 2018; the third died in 1968, but his name was missing from the wall, said Jim Luty, president of the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial Board.

• Sun Prairie Fire Capt. Cory Barr died from injuries he suffered while responding to an explosion on July 10, 2018. Barr helped residents evacuate during a gas leak when he was killed by the explosion.
• Lake Mills Fire Capt. Christopher Truman stopped to help at the scene of a traffic crash Dec. 31 on the Beltline in Lake Mills when another vehicle hit him. He died from his injuries.
• Port Washington Assistant Fire Chief Lester Olsen died Oct. 1, 1968. He was a volunteer who died from a heart attack while responding to a grass fire. 

Port Washington Fire Chief Mark Mitchell said department members knew about Olsen but didn't know he should be on the memorial until a lieutenant, who serves on the state honor guard that participates in the annual ceremony, brought it to the department's attention.

"Most of the fire department members from that era are gone," Mitchell said.

Having a firefighter's name on the memorial wall isn't something a department wants, but they felt Olsen should be honored for his sacrifice, so they took steps to verify his duty-related death, Mitchell said. 

There is little known about the events surrounding Olsen's death other than he died from a heart attack while fighting a grass fire, Mitchell said. When some department members put together a history of the department for its 150th anniversary in 2002, they found a photo of an honor guard carrying Olsen's casket from a church, Mitchell said. 

Fire officials and insurance companies consider the deaths of firefighters who die from cancer or a heart attack to be work-related because they come into contact with hazardous materials and can have strenuous jobs.

The Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial Board has worked during the past several years to add the names of all firefighters who have died in the line of duty in Wisconsin to the wall. Last year, five firefighters who previously died in the line of duty but did not have their names on the wall were added. 

The public is invited to the attend the ceremony, which has been moved to Crossview Church, 1000 E. Riverview Expressway in Wisconsin Rapids, between Pick 'n Save and the former Shopko store, due to forecasted rain and snow. The ceremony starts at 3:33 p.m. and will include the reading of names on the memorial, bagpipes, choral presentations and the traditional Firefighters' Bell Ceremony. 

At 7 p.m. Saturday, firefighters will participate in the Final Alarm Procession, Luty said. Firefighters will drive emergency equipment with lights on and sirens off through Wisconsin Rapids streets. 

The procession will go north on Second Avenue, onto Third Avenue, across the Jackson Street bridge, left onto First Street to Baker Street. It will turn south onto 16th Street, west onto Chestnut Street and north onto Lincoln Street. The procession will cross the Grand Avenue bridge and turn south onto First Avenue. This year, instead of the trucks returning to the memorial at the end of the procession, it will end on the final turn back to the park.

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