Arizona Fallen Firefighter Memorial Committee

Revision Date: 
Sunday, July 15, 2018

Authority

The Arizona Fallen Firefighter Memorial Committee (Committee) was established by Laws 2017, Chapter 21. The Committee replaced the Fire Fighters and Emergency Paramedics Memorial Board, which was created in 1990. Statutory authority for the Committee is found at A.R.S. §§41-1861 through 41-1863.

Function

The Legislature established the Committee to memorialize fallen firefighters and to determine eligibility for tuition waiver scholarships at state universities or community colleges.

The Committee consists of nine members who represent professional fire fighters associations, state agencies and the public. Members are not eligible to receive compensation but are entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses related to official committee business.

The committee is responsible for establishing standards to determine those persons to be memorialized; maintaining the memorial located in Wesley Bolin Plaza; and conducting an annual memorial service. The Committee also reviews tuition waiver scholarship applications from survivors of fallen firefighters.

History

The Arizona Fire Fighters and Emergency Paramedics Memorial Board (Board) was created in 1990 to establish a memorial for fire fighters and emergency paramedics who lost their lives in the line of duty and to determine those persons eligible to be memorialized. The Board consisted of twelve members. The Board was responsible for raising funds to build and maintain the memorial and issuing an annual report on the progress of the memorial to the Legislature. The Board was also authorized to determine eligibility for tuition waiver scholarships at state universities or community colleges, awarded to children or a spouse of a firefighter or emergency paramedic who was killed in the line of duty. See A.R.S. §15-1808.

The Arizona Fire Fighters and Emergency Paramedics Memorial Fund was also established in 1990, consisting of donated funds. The State Treasurer managed the Fund. (Laws 1990, Chapter 206). The Memorial was dedicated in 2015.

Laws 2017, Chapter 21 replaced the twelve-member Board with the nine-member Arizona Fallen Firefighter Memorial Committee. The responsibilities remained essentially the same, however the goal of building the memorial shifted to maintaining the memorial. The Committee continues to determine those persons who will be memorialized and also continues to determine eligibility for tuition waiver scholarships for survivors of fallen firefighters or emergency paramedics who died in the line of duty. In addition, the measure renamed the Arizona Fire Fighters and Emergency Paramedics Memorial Fund as the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Fund. The Committee terminates on July 1, 2027.

Sources

  • Arizona Revised Statutes §§41-1861 et seq.
  • Session Laws
    • Laws 1990, Chapter 206
    • Laws 2017, Chapter 21