Gone but not forgotten, three late Durango firefighters were memorialized outside Durango Fire Protection District’s Station 2 at 1235 Camino Del Rio on Saturday.
Fire Chief Randy Black commemorated a memorial acknowledging Elzie Briggs and Louis Hoffman, who died fighting the 1954 Miller Motor Fire, and Nick Parks III, who died fighting the Main Avenue Fire of 1974.
The memorial is located outside the fire station beside a flagpole and centerpieces an I-beam recovered from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
A little over 100 people were at the commemoration, which was part of an open house introducing the public to DFPD’s new 15,000-square-foot downtown fire station, which was completed earlier this year.
Nicki, Parks’ daughter, said her family is thankful for the Durango community for refusing to allow the memory of her father to fade.
“Not a day goes by that we don't think about him, but it does get a little easier knowing that the men and women here in Durango still carry on with their memory in tow,” she said.
Loretta Parks, widow of Nick Parks III, said in an interview the memorial is “such a lovely tribute” not just to her late husband but the other firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty.
“It's a lasting tribute to them,” she said. “It's very nice for the families and for the firefighters.”
She was pregnant with her daughter Nicki when her husband died.
She appeared impressed with the new fire station. She said it was wisely built with forethought, and she liked that facilities were constructed taking into account not only firefighters’ physical health, but also their mental health.
Black said cancer is the leading cause of death for firefighters, accounting for 75% of deaths. The new station incorporates best practices throughout its design, including positive pressure living quarters to keep out fire engine exhaust, air filtration systems to provide a steady supply of clean air to crews, clean gear storage with no exposure to sunlight or exhaust and commercial washing machines and dryers for gear.
“We also built this building for functional and longevity purposes,” he said. “The building’s designed with redundancy in the mechanical system; we've got multiple water heaters, two HVAC units, two boilers, the ice melt system.”
He said the building must function 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, regardless of whether or not technical problems arise, and a natural gas backup generator was installed to ensure it does.
Former firefighters Butch Gomez and Pat Kelly, who served alongside Parks and called him a brother, said they are among the only living firefighters left from their old crew.
“Beautiful. I'm glad these guys have the equipment that they have,” Gomez said of the new station.
He said the gear and facilities he had back in the day were pretty bad comparatively. He also liked that the building was designed with firefighters’ mental health in mind.
“We never had anything like this,” Kelly said.
He reminisced about the days he and Parks rode on the back of firetrucks. They would cling to the back as the truck rushed to a scene, jump off and hook the hose up to the fire hydrant.
“They don't allow any of that (anymore) because it was too dangerous riding on the back,” he said, turning to Nicki. “Your dad and I used to ride on the back of that truck. A lot of memories.”
He said fire station 2 is fire station No. 1 as far as he’s concerned, and that it’s hallowed ground to Gomez and himself.
A “ribbon cutting ceremony” featured Black using Jaws of Life to cut a fire hose outside one of the apparatus bay doors, which he did to applause.
Black thanked the DFPD board, contractors and other partners who made the new building become a reality.
cburney@durangoherald.com
