Visitors to Poelker Park in Downtown St. Louis often take note of the St. Louis Firefighters Memorial Statue – a tribute to firefighters, past, present and future. If they stopped by earlier this week, they may have seen John Ward, owner of MasterWorks Studios, up on scaffolding, performing his annual cleaning and waxing of the statue. His labor of love was just in time to mark the 15th anniversary of the dedication of this statue.

In 1992, the public fund drive began to raise $250,000 for a bronze statue to honor all the City firefighters in the history of the department. Sculptor Bob Daus, a former City firefighter, was hired to create the 10-foot bronze statue of a firefighter holding a child. Immortalized around the base of the statue are the faces of F.F. Alex Hogue (north side), F.F. Denny Walsh (south side), F.F. Gail Simmons (east side) and F.F. Rhonda Lee (west side). The statue was dedicated on Aug. 27, 1994.

The City founded its fire department in 1857, eight years after the great riverfront fire that revealed the downside of small volunteer units.

The 1st Annual Fallen Firefighters Candlelight Remembrance Vigil to remember firefighters from all St. Louis Metropolitan Area Fire Departments who have died in the line of duty will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 in Poelker Park by the statue. Fire Chiefs, firefighters, family and friends will gather to remember their co-workers and loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice. The general public is welcome to attend.

The City of St. Louis thanks John Ward for sharing his special gift of keeping this bronze monument looking good, and we salute all the men and women of the Fire Department.