Listowel in mourning
Posted Mar 18, 2011 05:28:40 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The town of Listowel remains in shock following the death of two volunteer firefighters.
The Ontario Fire Marshall is investigating the Dollar store blaze, a cause has yet to be determined. Kenneth Rea and Raymond Walter were killed when they entered the burning building to do a primary search — no one else had been inside at the time.
A news conference was held yesterday in honour of the fallen men. Listowel Mayor, Julie Behrns, says the tragedy is devastating for the small community.
The President of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, Rob Simonds, also expressed his condolences to the Rea and Walter families.
“Every firefighter in Canada knows that he or she is in one of Canada’s truly dangerous professions,” Simonds said. “It is that knowledge which joins all of us together in mourning Deputy Fire Chief Rea and Firefighter Walter.”
Fellow firefighters stood with bowed heads as the bodies of the two men were recovered on Friday just before 3:00 p.m.
Structural damage had made the recovery process slow and dangerous.
