Members of East Pierce Fire and Rescue gathered Thursday morning to honor former Chief Dan Packer on the fourth anniversary of his death.

As in past years, the fire department observed the anniversary respectfully and quietly. At  8:30 a.m. Thursday, on-duty and off-duty East Pierce personnel and their families assembled at the flag pole at their respective stations.

FireComm toned all of the East Pierce stations with a brief message in honor of Chief Packer. Personnel saluted as the flag was lowered to half staff, and then observed a moment of silence in honor of Chief Packer and all fire service personnel who have lost their lives in the performance of their duties.

“Always remember that the agency that we are all privileged to be members of exists in large part due to the vision and hard work of Chief Packer,”  said East Pierce Deputy Chief John McDonald. “For those of us who worked for him, respected him and loved him, his spirit lives on in each of us.  Let each of us make sure that the vision he set forth for us as individuals and as an organization lives on and that his memory never fades.”

Packer was killed in a California wildfire on July 26, 2008 while fighting the Panther Fire in Klamaath National Forest in northern California. Packer was a member of a Washington state-based incident management team and was deployed to major incidents, most frequently large wildland fires.

Along with a memorial in front of the Public Safety Building, East Pierce has created a memorial inside the department that honors Packer’s life and legacy with the department. Packer is considered the driving force behind the consolidation of fire districts that led to the creation of the East Pierce we know today.