With a massive flag hanging overhead, the Ely area remembered a fallen firefighter.
About 350 people turned out Tuesday night at Whiteside Park, remembering Leslie Washington, a firefighter from Alaska who passed away Aug. 11 while battling the nearby fires.
Washington, 41, died of natural causes. His death captured the attention of the Ely area and beyond, and the memorial in Ely brought out dignitaries, fellow firefighters and the general public.
Ely Mayor Heidi Omerza was among those to pay her respects during the service, and Ely’s city band was on stage to perform.
Reverend Corey Larsen of Ely’s First Presbyterian Church opened the service.
Ely’s fire department had a role as well, placing the giant flag that was overhead throughout the service, which came at the conclusion of the weekly Farmers Market event.
A eulogy was delivered by William Glesener, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wildfire Operations Supervisor and a message was read from Gov. Tim Walz, who was in town earlier in the day.
Bagpiper Joe Linneman also performed during the somber event.
Earlier the Morse-Fall Lake and Ely fire departments were part of an procession of fire trucks that escorted Washington’s body to the Minneapolis airport. Overpasses in the Twin Cities had fire trucks on them with American flags flying.
Washington was one of the hundreds of firefighters who have been dispatched here from around the country to battle the series of fires that erupted in mid-July and forced both home and business evacuations and the temporary closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
