If I can throw a single ray of light
across the path of another;

If I can aid some soul to a clearer
sight of life and duty;

If I can wipe from
any human cheek a tear,
I shall not have lived in vain while here.

... unknown

Although inspired by the four firefighters that died in the line of duty while fighting a warehouse fire in Seattle's Chinatown International District on January 5th, 1995, the Fallen Firefighter's Memorial is a respectful tribute to all thirty-one firefighters that have died in the line of duty since the department began in 1889. 

The four bronze statues that comprise the memorial, have permanent residence in Seattle's picturesque Occidental Park which is located adjacent to Seattle Fire Department Headquarters in downtown's Pioneer Square district.

Funding for the Memorial was raised through the efforts and donations of private citizens, firefighters, area businesses, city government and various private organizations. 

Hai Ying Wu, an internationally recognized artist from the University of Washington School of Arts, worked with a team of firefighters to design the life-sized figures and also sculpted them.

Wu intentionally designed the figures with masked faces noting that they "..could be any of the thousands of firefighters who have donned the uniform of the Seattle Fire Department."

Surrounding the figures are slabs of granite intended to depict a collapsed building.  Wu inscribed his own words into one of the slabs describing the memorial as;

"Represented realistically yet with exaggerated gestures to emphasize the intensity of the battle in which they are engaged."

The Seattle Fallen Fighters Memorial is a reminder to ourselves and people everywhere, that the members of our firefighting family who have lost their lives protecting the lives and property of others are not, and will not, ever be forgotten.

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Last Modified:   November 28, 2006