Memorial project honors Spokane firefighters who died in the line of duty

A fire captain who died 121 years ago was honored Monday with a plaque and a ceremony, the last of 17 members of the Spokane Fire Department recognized over the past year.

The firefighters, who all died in the line of duty, were included in the Spokane Firefighters Memorial Project, funded by donations from regional fire departments and local firefighters.

The effort was driven by Lt. Greg Borg and his family, who researched each death and located family members to attend the ceremonies.

Borg said he had always been interested in history. “I wanted some way to recognize the guys who had died in the line of duty,” he said.

Three generations of descendants from Capt. George T. Chapman, who died on May 25, 1894, were present at the unveiling of the brass plaque at the corner of Division Street and Main Avenue.

Chapman was 27 years old when he died, the first line-of-duty death for the fire department that had formed four years earlier.

According to a story in The Spokesman-Review, Chapman was training his men at Station 2 to use an aerial ladder. He had set the ladder at an “unusual” angle that the men didn’t feel was safe. Trying to prove it was, Chapman scaled the ladder. As he reached the end the ladder broke. Chapman fell 65 feet to his death.

The newspaper story on his death declared, “He was among the best known of the firemen and has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of the chief and his comrades.”

Station 2 was located in what is now a parking lot behind the Red Lion BBQ. Chapman’s brass plaque is located outside the front door of the Red Lion, just as there are plaques at the 16 other locations around the city where firefighters lost their lives.

Chapman was survived by his pregnant wife, Caroline, and a daughter, Ruth. A second daughter, Georgina, was born after Chapman’s death.

Georgina’s granddaughter, Kristin Jones, was among the family members who attended the ceremony. She wore a necklace that once belonged to Caroline Chapman.

Jones said all she had were some newspaper clippings about her great-grandfather and a photo that had been printed in The Spokesman-Review. “All we ever knew of him was that he was a fireman and that he fell from a ladder,” she said.

She was accompanied by her daughter, Amber Beltrand, and three of her grandchildren.

“It’s just been wonderful,” she said of the effort to recognize her great-grandfather. “He’s part of the city history. It makes me feel honored for him and proud.”