GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Friends, colleagues and loved ones attended funeral services this weekend for two Michigan firefighters recently killed in separate incidents in the line of duty.
Several Grand Rapids firefighters among them.
The group attended Friday’s services honoring late Flint Firefighter Ricky Hill, Junior, who died of what appeared to be a heart attack on the job, during an emergency response.
The following day, department personnel also attended the late Lieutenant Ethan Quillen’s funeral service.
Quillen served as a volunteer with the Paw Paw Fire Department beginning in 2019, but lost his life after making contact with a downed power line during a recent weather event.
In the latter’s case, GRFD formed part of the honor guard in attendance.
Images shared to social media by their union—Grand Rapids Professional Firefighters Local 366—showed uniformed personnel, side-by-side with a department vehicle in the background.
Others, members of the GRFD band posing with drums and bagpipes.
The department said members routinely volunteer to attend such events, escorting families to services and assisting in any way they’re able.
Captain Matt Keusch was in attendance and touched-on why the post, which featured hundreds of comments and reactions at the time of publication, so resonated with community members.
“There's such a mixture of firefighters from all over the state and out of state, all over the country. To see us all come together, even though we've never met… the love and care we have for one another and that family, that tight-knit family is what resonates,” Keusch said.
“It's what we've been doing for hundreds of years, it's a tradition and we'll continue to do it. We're there to support each other and I think the community really sees that when something like this happens--a tragedy.”
The captain called attending an honor, if a somber one and a reminder of the risks they all face on the job.
Firefighters, he reiterated, are members of a family and stood in solidarity with grieving friends and loved ones.
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