District Chief Mike Grosz carries the helmet of fallen firefighter Ray Walter through Listowel, Ontario to his funeral on Thursday. Thousands of people lined the main street of a small Ontario town this afternoon to honour two volunteer firefighters who died battling a blaze. (FRANK GUNN / CP)
Premier Dalton McGuinty was among those who paid tribute to Ray Walter, 30, of Listowel, Ont., and Ken Rea, 56, of nearby Atwood. The pair died last week after part of a burning Listowel dollar store collapsed while they were inside.
Bodies of volunteer firefighters killed in Listowel, Ont. removed from scene
About two-thirds of Ontario's 30,000 firefighters are volunteers, according to Tim Beckett, president of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs.
Rea and Walter were among the 65 volunteers with the North Perth Fire Service, which protects an area of 487 square kilometres with a population of 11,622.
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Beckett said the decision whether to have full-time or volunteer firefighters is up to each municipality. The number of fires the area sees and cost are factors in that decision.
Many do fundraisers.
Many do fundraisers.
2 comments:
The loss of these two heroes have hit our area hard... It's a sad reminder about how brave volunteer firefighters are.
My condolences to you and your community, Krista. We have been touched by the incredible work these volunteers do in the community. Especially in cottage country. The Bala drownings were horrible. BOth the pros and the volunteers are very hard-working.
In 2009 we had 11 drownings.
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