Canadian Firefighters Memorial, October 12, 2014

There seems to be very little change to the memorial site from the previous time I was there on September 28. The maple tree that had about twenty percent of its leaves left has dropped them all. There is a new QR code on the sign for the site. That may have been there earlier. I decided to have another look at the plaque that has the Firefighter's Prayer. I photographed it first thing when I arrived at the site.

Firefighter's Prayer

When I am called to duty, God
Whenever flames may rage
Give me strength to save a life
Whatever be its age

Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person
From the horror of that fate

Enable me to be alert
And hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
Put the fire out

I want to fill my calling
To give the best in me
To guard my every neighbour
And protect their property

And if, according to your will
I mus answer death's last call
Bless with your protecting hand
My family one and all.

You can see the maple tree that has dropped all its leaves here. The other
maple trees on the hill still have green leaves.

You can see the maple tree that has dropped all its leaves here. The other
maple trees on the hill still have green leaves.

For some time there was a QR code with a sticker across it and a "coming
soon" statement on it. Now there's a completely new sign on the post
with a new QR code. I did some searching and found out why. The old
QR code was for a story on the memorial on the National Capital
Commission's web site. Heritage Canada now has a page on it.
Click on this sentence to see the page.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, September 28, 2014

These pictures were taken two weeks after the Canadian Firefighters Memorial Ceremony. I arrived at the site about mid afternoon. The angle of the light from the sun was pretty much ideal. Some of the foliage on the site showed fall colours. One maple tree had almost completely dropped its leaves. The oak trees had started to turn orange. The fencing on the site has been removed. It had been taken down before the ceremony two weeks earlier but I didn't notice it then.

You can see one of the oak tree's leaves have turned orange.

You can see the maple tree on the left has almost dropped all its leaves.

The limber pines are doing very well. I estimate they have each grown about
1.25 meters / 4 feet since they were planted.

One of the limber pines even has a pine cone.

The light was just about ideal for photographing the statue.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial Ceremony - 2014 - part 1 of 5

The 2014 Canadian Firefighters Memorial Ceremony took place on Sunday, September 14, 2014, at the Canadian Firefighters Memorial. The ceremony started at 10:30 a.m. I arrived at the site around 9:00 a.m. with my camera to take photographs. I took 245 of them. This is hardly a complete record of the event but it's what I managed to record of it. The pictures are posted unedited in chronological order in five parts.

I approached the memorial from the southeast. The helmet party
had already arrived to practice.

The firefighter has been given a second coat of whatever the material
is that gives him that nice rich dark patina.

Ladder trucks from the Ottawa Fire Service and the Mississippi Mills
Fire Department would support the large Canadian Flag.

It bothers me that this is out of focus.

The rehearsal of the helmet party was rained out the day before so it was done
very early on the day of the ceremony.

The cadets have done a tremendous job helping with the ceremony every year
since it started. In my opinion they are very much appreciated.

An urban firefighter with an axe and a wildland firefighter with a Pulaski did
silent sentry duty. A Pulaski is a combination axe and mattock used by wildland
firefighters on the ground.

In the Canadian Armed Forces it is the Air Force that has the firefighting
trade. That's why you see most of the military personnel involved in the
ceremony wearing the Air Force uniform.

These are medallions presented to each of the families of a fallen firefighter.
Each medallion has the name of the firefighter engraved on the back.

The Canadian Armed Forces provide sound equipment and members of the
military to operate it.