Hammack due honor at Fallen Firefighters Memorial

Central Oregon logger John E. Hammack and two other Oregonians will be among the 107 fallen firefighters to be honored at the 2014 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, this Sunday.

The service begins at 10 a.m. at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., and the event is open to the public. Live streaming information—including satellite coordinates—is available at http://media.firehero.org.

Hammack, who lived near Culver and grew up in the Sisters area, was a 58-year-old firefighter and tree faller for R & K Water Service, Inc., a U.S. Forest Service contractor.

He died after being struck by a burning snag as he cleared hazardous trees during a wildfire at the Mt. Washington Wilderness Area of the Deschutes National Forest on Aug. 1, 2013.

Hammack also was among five fallen firefighters added this summer to the Oregon Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial in Salem.

Additional information on Hammack’s service is available at http://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighter/john-e-hammack/.

This annual tribute is sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s U.S. Fire Administration.

More than 5,000 people are expected to attend, including members of Congress, senior-level federal officials and other dignitaries, members of the fire service, and families, friends and co-workers of the fallen firefighters.

Additional details on the service and a complete list of fallen firefighters being honored — including Oregonians Jesse Trader and Oscar Montano-Garcia — are available at http://media.firehero.org.