Washington firefighters Local Assistance Team deployed to Arizona
Published 1:56 pm Monday, July 22, 2013
The Washington state Local Assistance Team was deployed earlier this month to assist the state of Ariz. in honoring and laying to rest the 19 Hotshot firefighters who perished while protecting their community from wildfires on June 30.
Three of the seven team members who responded to the Prescott call for assistance were members of the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority. The other four members of the Washington State LAST were from Spokane County Fire District 4. The Spokane County contingent was unable to deploy until Tuesday of that week due to a Line of Duty Death funeral in their own community following the passing of Spokane firefighter John Knighten.
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 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.
Only two teams were requested from outside of Arizona. Besides the Washington team, the Missouri LAST was also brought in. That team drove for over 22 hours from the St. Louis area to help.
The Washington LAST 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.
“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,” Kent Police Department Divison Chief Pat Pawlak, who led the team on the deployment, said.
The members of the Washington Local Assistance Team deployed to Prescott, Ariz. were:
Fire Chief Randy Johnson, Spokane County Fire District 4Division Chief Pat Pawlak, Kent Fire DepartmentDivision Chief Howard Johnson, Spokane County Fire District 4Division Chief Gino Palomino, Spokane County Fire District 4Battalion Chief Kevin Garling, Kent Fire DepartmentChaplain Jim Trull, Spokane County Fire District 4Captain Kyle Ohashi, Kent Fire Department
