Local firefighter mourned at international service

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This article was published 22/09/2023 (1092 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Arthur James Ryan was one of 574 first responders who were recognized during the International Association of Fire Fighters’ (IAFF) 37th Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial service, which took place in Colorado Springs, Colo., last Saturday.

Ryan, known as Jim to his friends and family, worked as a member of the Brandon fire department for over three decades before passing away in 1994 from pancreatic cancer, a disease that’s directly linked to the carcinogens he was exposed to on the job.

To honour his sacrifice, representatives from the Brandon Firefighter Paramedics (Local 803) attended this year’s IAFF memorial alongside members of Ryan’s family, including his grandson Scott, who joined the department in 2021.

“It was an incredible experience,” Scott said about the service, during which he got to present his grandfather’s line of duty death flag to his family.

“Just with it being [about] my grandpa, it was a pretty special moment. And having all my family there and everything was awesome.”

While Scott was only two years old when his grandfather passed away, he still cites him as the major reason for why he decided to become a firefighter.

“Through stories, pictures and my grandma, she kind of shared a lot with me over the last 20 years, I kind of felt like I knew him even though I didn’t,” he said. “Firefighting was kind of one of my childhood dreams just with my grandpa’s stories and everything. So I’m glad that I actually got to fulfil that.”

Saturday wasn’t the first time that the Local 803 attended this Colorado Springs memorial service, with union president Terry Browett telling the Sun their last visit was in 2017.

However, what made the 2023 ceremony special to Browett, who is Ryan’s nephew, is that it comes two years after the Manitoba government amended the Workers Compensation Act to add five additional types of cancer, including pancreatic.

As soon as the province made this announcement, Browett and his union members submitted Ryan’s name to the IAFF for consideration, hoping to raise awareness for the injuries firefighters sustain in the line of duty that are not immediately visible on the surface.

According to a 2018 study from the University of Fraser Valley, 86 per cent of all Canadian firefighter workplace fatality claims were blamed on cancer.

“It’s one thing to recognize these line-of-duty deaths, but I think it’s also increased the awareness and the amount of safety that needs to go on in preventing it,” Browett said.

To Ryan’s son Ron, Saturday’s memorial served as a reminder of how far firefighter equipment and safety protocols have come in the decades since his father’s death, and how those developments have saved countless lives in the process.

“My son says they don’t go anywhere near a fire without a breathing apparatus,” Ron said.

“Well, years ago … I remember watching my dad coming out of burning buildings with no breathing apparatus, nothing, because that’s just what they did.”

Outside of Saturday’s memorial, Scott is planning to keep his grandfather’s legacy alive through his own career as a firefighter, where he can hopefully emulate the same level of hard work and community involvement.

“It is such a humbling profession to be a part of,” he said. “It skipped a generation, going from my grandpa down to me, but the fact that it kind of continued in the family obviously says something.”

Ryan will also be honoured this Saturday at a Manitoba Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial service in Winnipeg, which will be attended by members of his family and various Brandon first responders.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com