McGovern Honored at Annual Wheeling Firefighter Memorial
Kailey Carpino Trending
WHEELING -- The Wheeling Fire Department held its annual firefighter memorial ceremony on Sunday to honor all of the city’s firefighters who have died in the line of duty or from job-related injuries or illnesses.
The event was held on the anniversary of Assistant Chief Robert Foster's line-of-duty death. Sunday's ceremony marked the 32nd anniversary.
"This memorial service is a reminder to the public that firefighting is a dangerous business. Even if we do everything right, we're not always guaranteed to return home safely," Lt. Robert Heldreth said.
Heldreth said that for this year's ceremony, he wanted to honor former firefighter Matthew John McGovern. McGovern was a Wheeling firefighter for 25 years. Heldreth said that at the age of 52, McGovern passed away from brain cancer.
"In 2016, Matt had a seizure at work. That's when we knew something was wrong," Heldreth said.
He said that even after his cancer diagnosis, McGovern would help out and complete small tasks at the fire department.
Heldreth said that job-related cancers are common among firefighters.
"It has never been questioned that the byproducts of fire cause cancer, but in the last few years, experts have found that even the equipment meant to keep us safe has carcinogenic properties like our firefighting gear that we use to extinguish fires," he said.
He said that exposure to everything from the gear that they wear to the foam used to extinguish fuel fires can increase cancer risks.
Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier said that McGovern was a joy to work with.
"Matt's positivity and the love he had for his community is what I think carried him through for as long as he lived," he said.
"He brought everyone's spirits up," Blazier said.
Blazier shared a story about a time when McGovern was assigned a task to go to each of the seven fire stations and figure out how many telephones were in each station.
"It took him 12 days. ...At the end of the 12 days, he lost the notebook that he had his notes in and had to start over," Blazier said.
In addition to Foster and McGovern, the memorial also recognized the following firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty:
Firefighter Thomas McCue, Firefighter Bartholomew Link, Firefighter Charles Carrell, Captain Charles Ferguson, Firefighter William M. McGee, Assistant Chief Charles "Cap" Belswenger, Engineer Wilbert "Red" Nolan, Assistant Chief John C. Donovan Sr. and Captain Vincent Greene.
After reading the names, the fire department had a bell-ringing ceremony in honor of the firefighters.
The memorial honors firefighters who lost their lives from the year 1868 up to 1991.
Their names, along with Foster's, are listed on the Wheeling Fallen Firefighter Memorial which is located near Wesbanco Arena.
The ceremony was held indoors at WesBanco Arena due to the rain, but at the end of the ceremony, firefighters placed a wreath at the Wheeling Fallen Firefighter Memorial to honor all Wheeling firefighters who have died in the line of duty or from job related injuries or illnesses.
Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom kicked off the ceremony with a prayer to thank the fallen heroes for their sacrifices and for the safety of all current firefighters.
McGovern's family attended the event and gathered around the memorial during the wreath laying ceremony.