On Wednesday, April 19, leaders of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus presented 144 American flags flown over the US Capitol to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). These flags represent each of the firefighters on the 2023 Roll of Honor, which includes 79 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2022 and 65 who died in previous years.

At the Ceremony, members of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus—including Senator Jon Tester (MT), Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK), Co-Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus—presented the flags to the NFFF. Deputy US Fire Administrator Chief Tonya Hoover; NFFF’s Vice-Chair of the Board and Executive Director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) Bill Webb; Chief John Donnelly of the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department; and NFFF’s Executive Director Chief Ron Siarnicki participated in this important annual tradition, which took place at DC Fire and EMS Engine 3 in Washington, DC. Following the Ceremony, the flags were transferred to Memorial Park at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, MD, where they will be flown over the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

These same flags will play a key role in the upcoming 42st Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, as the firefighters on this year’s Roll of Honor will be honored by a grateful nation with Fire Hero Families from across the United States in attendance. The individual flags will be presented to each family at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service on Sunday, May 7, in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The Memorial Service is open to the public and will be live-streamed beginning at 10:00 am ET. To access the livestream and learn how you can help to honor our nation’s fallen heroes, visit National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.