A new memorial to commemorate fallen Arizona firefighters officially broke ground at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza on Friday, marking the end of an effort to honor paramedics and firefighters that began about two decades earlier.

Plans for the memorial began in the 1990s, when a Tempe legislator introduced a bill creating the Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Emergency Paramedics Memorial Commission, which began to make plans for a memorial.

In 2013, Rep. Bob Robson introduced House Bill 2136 authorizing the construction of a statewide memorial on the plaza to commemorate the loss of 105 firefighters and paramedics in Arizona since 1902.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into law that May.

The state is one of nine without a statewide memorial to fallen firefighters and paramedics.

“It’s going to be a home,” said Bryan Jeffries, president of the Professional Firefighters of Arizona. “As I walked up today … I had to pinch myself because I realized this dream is coming true.”

The project is expected to cost about $1.7 million, with more than $1.25 million of that cost coming from donations.

A new memorial to commemorate fallen Arizona firefighters officially broke ground at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza on Friday.

The Arizona Firefighters and Emergency Memorial Commision is continuing to accept donations for the memorial at the Wesley Bolin Plaza.

Contributions can be made at www.azfirefightersmemorial.com or:

Arizona Fallen Firefighter Memorial

61 E. Columbus

Phoenix, AZ 85012

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