'We come together': Hundreds honour fallen Winnipeg firefighters

The names of six firefighters who lost their lives lays next to a wreath in Winnipeg's Memorial Park on Sept. 28, 2024. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News Winnipeg)

Hundreds gathered in Winnipeg’s Memorial Park Saturday afternoon in a solemn ceremony honouring the lives of fallen firefighters.

“When one of our members fall, we all fall,” said Tom Bilous, president of United Firefighters Winnipeg. “So that's what we do. We come together.”

This year’s event paid tribute to six firefighters -- Lionel Gauthier, Gordon Earl White, Brian Fuller, Ronald Murray, Richard Johnson and Preston Heinbigner, who died by suicide in April. Heinbigner’s death sparked calls for better mental health supports for first responders and those on the front lines.

“We've already announced supports for firefighters and police and other first responders to get that kind of counseling and mental health support, but we know that there's going to be other steps that we have to do as well,” Premier Wab Kinew told CTV News in an interview.

Those measures include increased staffing in southwest Winnipeg, along with additional funding for counseling and mental health services.

“We know that there's going to have to be more to do, and so we'll continue to look at the laws and the policies and see what needs to be there,” Kinew said.

Bilous said while the ceremony offers a chance to dignify those who lost their lives, it also gives victims’ family members a time to grieve.

“We etch their names on the walls, but we like to get here together and let everyone know you're not alone,” Bilous said. “We were in this together in life and after.”