SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Firefighters Memorial in Capitol Park will undergo its first expansion in 2024.
The limestone wall memorial surrounded by various statues is slated to undergo a $13 million expansion starting spring 2024, according to Rick Martinez, executive director of the nonprofit California Fire Foundation (CFF).
The memorial was constructed in April 2002 and contained 800 names of firefighters who died within some capacity of their work; this includes vehicle accidents driving to calls or death related to terminal illness proven to be contracted on the job, Martinez said.
Now, the memorial displays 1,527 names, he said.
“I’ve spent 35 years as a firefighter,” he said. “My name won’t be on the wall. Any cancer or disease that might come my way, it would be very difficult to trace it back to work now.”
CFF heads its expansion with oversight from the California Department of General Services and the California State Assembly’s Joint Committee on Rules, according to Martinez.
Martinez said the expansion will add walls that can accommodate 4,600 names. The memorial generally adds 20 to 30 names a year, so the construction allows for at least 150 years of additions without having to build more space, he said.
“We were up against being full,” he said. “Now, we have a little breathing room. It’s the same amount of area in Capitol Park, but it’s additional construction within that footprint.”
The exhibit is adding a bell, other artwork and a couple of statues. The statues take the artist 18 months to 24 months to build while construction will take six months to eight months, he said. The construction will put a fence around the exhibit for public safety, but it won’t really have a disruptive impact on Capitol Park.
Martinez, who served as a firefighter for 35 years and even oversaw Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rescue efforts during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, has a friend commemorated in the exhibit.
“His sister comes and volunteers in the annual memorial in October every year,” Martinez said. “The memorial has great significance for those firefighter’s families as well as firefighters in general.”
Martinez also sees a second cousin on the wall, he said.
The project costs $13 million and its completion depends entirely on donations, which Martinez said he is confident the organization will receive.
“There’s a jillion fires now,” he said. “People are respectful of firefighters. I am conscious of that and confident we can get donations for this.”
CFF donations can me made HERE.
