When a Firefighter Dies in The Line of Duty

Marin Independent Journal Reporter Nels Johnson wrote a great feature story published on August 31, 2013 titled "Hometown Heroes: The untold story of Marin's fire service casualties" He correctly pointed out that there is no common group memorial for the fire service line of duty deaths involving the Marin fire service.

​This week we are starting the process of detailing the stories of each firefighter, and are pleased to announce that the earliest known incident has been rediscovered. Sausalito Fire Chief Walter A. Cook died while fighting a basement fire in a home in Sausalito on March 7, 1924. The story is told on our Line of Duty Deaths page for him, and includes some deeper historical information on Chief Cook that was not told at the time of his death in the local newspaper. It involves his role in the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Read all about it now.

A view of the approaching fire coming up Sacramento Street in San Francisco, photo by Arnold Genthe.