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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Police, firefighters battle for a cause

Our Weekly Pick For Local Families

The police will take on the firefighters on the ice Saturday at a “Guns and Hoses” hockey game.

Proceeds will benefit the family of Spokane firefighter John Knighten, who was diagnosed in 2010 with multiple myeloma, a form of blood plasma cancer.

At the end of April, after enduring bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy and a brain tumor, Knighten left his doctors’ care in Seattle to spend his last weeks with his family in Mead. He and his wife, Shawna, have three daughters. The oldest is 13.

He was escorted home by fellow firefighters.

The hockey game fundraiser offers another way for Knighten’s colleagues and supporters to help his family, said organizer Bobby Tobiason, a firefighter for Spokane County Fire District 9.

“The idea behind it is to help them with any little thing they need,” he said.

About 40 people will play from city and county departments. While some players are former junior team members, others are recent recruits to the game, Tobiason said. And while they’ll play hard, it’ll be a clean, family-friendly game.

“We all remember we have to go to work the next day,” he said.