Jody Cowart and his family watched as his father’s fire helmet was carried up to the huge bell at First Station 1, then gently placed on a display of those who, like his father, had died in the line of duty.

Firefighter Edgar A. Cowart was killed Nov. 16, 1986, when his fire rescue boat struck a piling while answering a distress call near the Hart Bridge.

Jody Cowart joined city officials and families of other firefighters Wednesday to remember 25 firefighters lost since 1885. Fallen Firefighter Memorial Day has taken place since 1986.

“It is a great honor, not just for my father but for all of them,” Cowart said. “It is very important, and I am glad the mayor is here to support it, not just for the firemen but for police officers as well.”

As he spoke at Station 1’s Firefighter Memorial, Chief Keith Powers said he is glad his prayers that no other names would be added to the plaque was answered. Three new names were placed there in 2021, all men who “gave up everything in service to this city,” he said.

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“For what, you ask?,” Powers said. “So that everyday citizens who were complete strangers could have everything including their moms and dads, their wives, their children, their future, their life. There are very few people in this world who are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for others. The 25 men who are forever enshrined on the wall behind me are part of that select group.”

The wall was dedicated June 29, 1987, when 14 names were placed on it. Its 3,000-pound brass bell once topped an early 20th century City Hall. The late Wayne Doolittle, a retired firefighter, found it abandoned in 1986 in a city storage room.

Firefighter Henry Bradley is the first name on the plaque, having died Dec. 16, 1885. In 2008, Engineer Neal Tarkington’s name was added. The 43-year-old Ladder 4 special operations member died of a heart attack after leaving the station. His name was on the list until 2021, when three new names were unveiled.

One is 36-year-old Fire Engineer Michael J. Freeland, who died Nov. 11, 2021, while trying to rescue a woman whose truck had hit a power pole just blocks from Fire Station 73, where he worked. Also added was Capt. Thomas Barber, 51, who died of a heart attck June 14 after coming home from a shift at Station 25, his family said. Then on Aug. 17, the COVID-19 virus claimed 17-year-veteran Lt. Mario Moya, also 51.

Mayor Donna Deegan said all of the firefighters did their duty because “they believed in something higher than themselves.”

“They believed in the honor and duty of keeping their neighbors safe from harm, and we can never repay that debt,” Deegan said. “What we can do is express our unending gratitude, always. What we can do, and will always do, is remember their names, their lives and their impact on our community.”

Current firefighters from the 1,900-person force lined North Liberty Street holding helmets bearing the names of those who died, then walked up to the bell as the name on them was read out during a “Last Alarm Roll Call,” as fire department honor guard Commander Justin Adler rang it.

Then each fallen firefighter’s helmet was placed on a display stand next to the 2-year-old eternal flame and memorial statue in front of the fire station.

The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office honor guard, followed by Taps and “Amazing Grace” performed by the fire department’s Fife and Drum Corps.

Lead image: Jacksonville firefighters hold helmets bearing the names of the 25 men who have died in the line of duty since 1885. They were honored Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, during Fallen Firefighter Memorial Day. | Dan Scanlan, WJCT News 89.9