6 fallen firefighters honoured at Winnipeg ceremony

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Peggy

WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide and could be triggering for some people.

A Winnipeg firefighter who died by suicide earlier this year — whose death has since been deemed a result of workplace injury — was among those honoured during the Manitoba fallen firefighter memorial ceremony on Saturday.

Dozens attended the ceremony at Memorial Park where five additional firefighters who also died in the line of duty were honoured, including family, friends, colleagues and community members.

Manitoba Firefighters Gordon Earl White, Richard Johnson, Lionel Gauthier, Brian Fuller and Ronald Murray were also honoured Saturday. Each of their names have been etched into the Manitoba fallen firefighters memorial.

“I wish there wasn’t any names on that wall, but at the same time that’s the reality we live in. It drums up a lot of emotions,” said Tom Bilous, United Firefighters of Winnipeg president.

“These were guys I made pizza with, these were guys I pulled hoses over snow banks with. They’re not just names on the walls, they’re personalities, so to see their loved ones here today and to share that moment, [it’s] very important.”

Union head remembers fallen firefighter as ‘amazing, caring person’

Preston Heinbigner’s death this past spring sparked calls for improved mental health supports for first responders and for it to be designated as a line of duty death.

Heinbigner, 40, died by suicide on April 9. At the time, he and his wife, Shayda, had a two-year-old son and another baby on the way.

He had been a Winnipeg firefighter since 2007 and was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder related to trauma he’d seen while responding to calls on the job, according to his friends and colleagues.

In June, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba deemed the firefighter’s death a result of workplace injury.

“We all know the demons and unnatural things he struggled with [were] absolutely job related,” said Bilous. “It won’t bring him back, but … if we can honour and remember him and move the sticks forward to avoid that in the future, [it’s] the best we can do.”

Bilous said it meant a lot to Heinbigner’s family, colleagues and loved ones for him to be honoured as part of Saturday’s ceremony.

“He was such an amazing, caring person,” said Bilous. “I really believe that’s what he would want to know that ‘OK, my death is not in vain, let’s help the next person, the person after that.'”

United Firefighters of Winnipeg vice-president Derek Balcaen echoed his sentiments.

“To have his name etched on these walls now forever is something that is extremely valuable,” he said.

The Manitoba government also committed to funding three mental health counsellors for first responders in the wake of Heinbigner’s death.

“A day like today, it really reminds you when we have firefighters, today with the drug crisis going on in the streets, we’re not just asking them to fight fires,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said.

“We’re also asking them to be the front lines with naloxone and to respond to overdoses and because of all these things that people see on the job, we have to be there with more supports on the mental health side of things too.”

A memorial with a name etched on it. — Preston Heinbigner was one of six Manitoba firefighters who were honoured during Saturday’s ceremony. (Antoine Brière/Radio-Canada)

The home safe bell was also rung during the ceremony.

Fire Chaplin Ian Scott explained that fire companies all over North America used a home safe bell when a “company or a piece of apparatus left to fight a fire or deal with an emergency, they were welcomed back with a home safe bell” to let everyone know all was well, he said.

In addition, the home safe alarm was also sounded at firehouses around the city to express that those who were being honoured “are home safe,” Scott said.

“The smoke is cleared, the fire is out, our fallen comrades are at rest.”

Bilous said he knew several of the firefighters honoured, and hopes they’ll be remembered well.

“Our ultimate goal remains to have a year where we have no names going on this wall and then the year after that and so on and so on, that would be wonderful,” Bilous said while addressing the crowd.

“We must never lose sight of achieving this.”