Colorado Springs -“Q-tip” – the nickname for fallen Denver firefighter Richard Montoya, who died after fighting a house fire in May – was remembered fondly by dozens of his former colleagues Saturday.
The 61-year-old had been just weeks from retiring, but the thin, white-haired firefighter still “cared about the job, he cared about the people he served, and he cared about the traditions of the job,” Denver fire Capt. Roy Gelbhaus said.
To honor Montoya and 121 other firefighters across the country who died in the line of duty in the past year, Gelbhaus and nearly 100 other Denver Fire Department personnel attended a service in Memorial Park on Saturday, along with other firefighters from across the country and Canada.
Colorful flags of individual fire stations snapped in the breeze; a piece of black tape covered each firefighter’s badge.
Montoya’s name will appear on the International Association of Fire Fighters memorial, a 20-year-old stone panel and a statue of a firefighter saving a child. Pikes Peak towers over the memorial, which already bears the names of 1,861 fallen firefighters.
Some colleagues and relatives wept behind sunglasses, as a bagpipe band played “Amazing Grace” to honor the dead.
Montoya was in a second-floor bedroom of a burning house on May 14 when a mattress and parts of the home’s roof toppled onto him, according to initial reports. The fire was started by a burning candle.
Montoya’s heart stopped for 10 seconds, according to others at the scene, but was revived on the way to the hospital. He died later that week.
A final report on the incident is expected soon, said Jim Sestrich, deputy chief of the Denver Fire Department. “He came on the department with me. It’s been a trying time, but this is a fitting honor,” Sestrich said.
Firefighters in Denver continue to train themselves and examine how they do their work, Sestrich said, adding that he believes “nothing was wrong” with the procedures followed the day Montoya died.
A procession of fire engines and other firefighting vehicles around the state stalled traffic in downtown Colorado Springs for a short time in the middle of the day as it headed for the event in the park.
Firefighters have saved thousands of lives in recent years, from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Hurricane Katrina victims, said Harold Schaitberger, general president of the international union group. “Oftentimes, the word ‘hero’ is used (but) those in our profession would just tell you they’re just doing their job,” Schaitberger said.
