Yellowknife firefighters Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson perished in a building fire on March 17, 2005. Two decades later, Howard Nowell, one of the firefighters present on that fateful day, can still feel the anguish.
"We got called to a simple call; things went really sideways," he recalled.
Fyfe and Olson were responding to a fire at Yellowknife's Home Building Centre on Old Airport Road, which collapsed as they were fighting a fire inside.
Olson was 24 years old and only had 10 days on the job. He died that day. Fyfe was in his 40s and was in a coma that lasted for days due to the injuries he sustained. He passed away less than a week later.
Nowell said he knew Fyfe fairly well.
"He was one of the lieutenants that we worked with SA国际影视传媒� very nice guy, very helpful," he said. "Couldn't ask for a better guy."
In honour of Fyfe and Olson, the Yellowknife Fire Division lowered its flags to half staff to mark 20 years since the two men died. Nowell said it's fantastic to see both men's legacies remembered after all this time.
"We don't want to forget about the guys that have given their life for this community and everything that they can do for us," he said.
Coun. Garett Cochrane, who is a nephew to the former fire chief serving at the time, Mick Beauchamp, said it was an honour to offer remarks on this solemn anniversary.
"As I only understand on a basic level, while many of you that I see before me understand bone deep, this is less a department and more of a family," said Cochrane. "Uncle Mick thought of himself as the head of the family at that time, and the loss of these two extraordinary individuals hit him deeply in mind, body and soul, to where he never fully recovered and never really left that fateful terrible night behind until he himself passed in 2013."
Cochrane added that what the city's firefighters do is not a job but a calling.
"For any of you to come into work is an act of irrational and constant bravery," he said. "Knowing the risks and yet still throwing on the uniform, rushing into an emergency is something this community will never be able to thank you enough for."
