Northern Rockies to celebrate fallen firefighters with ‘Walk of Remembrance’

FORT NELSON, B.C. — The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) is hosting an event this weekend to memorialize four late local firefighters.

The NRRM announced on Facebook on Tuesday, September 9th that it’s holding a ‘Walk of Remembrance’ to commemorate the lives of firefighters Gary Giffin, Paul Tell, Don Wagner and Ryan Kerr.

According to the International Association of Fire Fighters’ line of duty death database, Giffin passed away in June 2002. In the years since his passing, Gary Giffin Memorial Park in Fort Nelson has been named after him. 

Meanwhile, a 2007 article from industry publication Fire Fighting in Canada indicates that Tell passed away in September 2005. A picnic table bearing his name has since been erected in Gary Giffin Memorial Park in his memory.

Wagner passed away in May 2012, according to an obituary published in the now-defunct Fort Nelson News paper. 

Kerr died in December 2024. Flags were lowered to half-mast for several days following Kerr’s passing, and a public celebration of his life was held in Fort Nelson a few months later in April 2025.

Beyond those four, the Walk of Remembrance is meant to commemorate all deceased emergency workers — “both those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who served our community with courage and dedication during their lives,” the announcement reads.

The Walk of Remembrance is being held on Sunday, September 14th at 11 a.m., with participants set to walk from the NRRM Recreation Centre to the Gary Giffin Memorial Park.